The works of Shoichi
Seino as ceramics are born from clay and fire. Far from pottery
and unrelated to the ceramic world, his work has been more suitable
as art work in its activity field and style. However,questions
about the division of art and ceramic art in Japan arise when
Seino's works are examined in detail. They typify
the ongoing between modern work and tradition.
Seino s first interests was traditional ceramic
works. During his university years, he became a pupil of the
ceramist of Seto for a short period, and visited the ceramists
of major ceramic-producing regions in the Western
Japan, such as Arita, Karatsu, and Hagi. In 1973, at the age
of 24, the self-educated Seino started to work on the ceramic
in the suburb of Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. His very first
pieces were a black figurative earthen ware. One of the reasons
he didn't make a pottery during that early stage
was that the new ceramic fields unrelated to traditional pottery
had already been established.
Around 1970, just before he started to work as an artist, there
was a cultural undulation of vivacious influence and communication
crossing all cultural genres.Seino, too, was not only interested
in ceramic art, but also in a contemporary art, plays, and dances,
and he was especially connected to the dancers of Dairakudakan.
Seino entered the contemporary art field influenced by the atmosphere
of the time. Also, he was away from the nexus and conventions
of Japan's ceramic world. His interest in ceramics
was not directly connected with the ceramic world, and he began
his first step towards his future career in contemporary art.
In 1975, he moved to Aichi Prefecture and has been working there
since. The figurative trend of his early works vanished, its
form became simplified and minimized and this became Seino's consistent attitude to the work. As to 'subduing clay's assertion', he says it means that he refuses to create pottery
or figurative forms according to the characteristics of the clay
only. On the contrary, he ignored the attitudes of other artists
who easily created form based on material properities only. To
control both his artist's assertion and the clay's, he persisted much more pottery clay into fire
and watching the metamorphosis in the kiln than in being concerned
of clay itself. The various changes of its colors and form in
the kiln, according to Seino, that is his basis of activity as
an artist.
In 1979, his philosophy became clearer in his work. Same-sized
pieces of ceramics were piled up, and they could almost have
been classified as instellation work. The clay from nine places
from all over Japan was collected and fired, and the work reflected
the differences in the qualities of each clay.
In 1981, he showed work made of a clay called Hakuunseki which
was manufactured for industrial use. Hebegan to use an industrial
clay called Fine Ceramics, instead of natural clay, and from
that point on, he started to search in histrical direction in
ceramic art. Since 1984, he has also begun using another clay,
Koukaseki, and has been using a graphite lately. Like the traditional
ceramists traveling around to find the ideal clay, Seino reserches
various contemporary clays, and explores his own world the various
changes. His clay swells wildly, its color changes are complicated,
in some case, it's intencely cracked. His work shows the changes
which cross the tradition of ceramic art. Most of his works are
done by himself, but in some cases, Fine Ceramic, for example,
industrial materials are used. His interpratation of ceramic
art is open and free.
One early influence which made Seino become interested in traditional
ceramics was that he has deeply impressed by Honnamikouetsu's
fujisan teacup. Fujisan, a national treasure has the characteristic
of metamophosis in the kiln on its lower surface. So many people
have looked for inspiration in metamorphosis. Ceramics have an
unexpected beauty, capriciousness of clay and fire emerging which
are impossible to intentionally. They must wait for the results
of the work to be done before picking them up from a kiln. However,
Seino does not let be in chance alone. Seino seems to feel a
deep concern between the various changes in the kiln and organic
changes in nature. Here, we must consider how nature reflects
his work. By naturally and leaving the matter to the clay and
the fire during creation, nature lives in it. For the artist
who waits for results, occur as in the kiln symbolized revelation
of the nature. Ceramic art as a genre is not as important to
Seino as receiving a revelation of nature, and reconsidering
traditional approaches and techniques for working on ceramics.
Therefore, we need to think about the ceramic art retoinity its
susceptibility towards the beauty of the metamophosis in the
kiln. This is cultural roots and history - or tradition. Seino,
who stands unlimitedly far from ceramic art, however, he has
accepted its traditional approaches and techniques for working
with ceramics in the same
way. Merely, he was developed different ways from the other ceramic
artists. By contract, Seino's works point out the weakness of
other Japanese contemporary art which has been separated from
its culture. It does not strike at the roots of its tradition.
Takashi Mizutani, Art Critic