heath journal
The New York Times: “Decorative Pieces by a Master Potter”
Featured in the New York Times’s style magazine, T Magazine, Kurt Stoller debuts the ninth annual year of hosting Akio’s work.
After being in business nearly 75 years, the Sausalito, California-based Heath Ceramics is still beloved for its durable but beautiful plates, cups and bowls, but many of the company’s most dedicated fans also fervently collect its design collaborations with various global makers, some of which sell out online in minutes. Up next is Heath’s partnership with Akio Nukaga, a veteran potter from Kasama, Japan, who works with his wife, daughter or the occasional assistant to make pieces with pleated surfaces that are inspired by traditional shinogi carving techniques. The ceramist has been collaborating with the team at Heath since 2009; for this year’s presentation, “A Single Line will Lead Me,” opening this week, he challenged himself to move away from functional pieces like, say, mugs and saucers and instead create vessels, sculptures, vases, totems and other artistic one-offs that are primarily meant to be displayed. (In variegated stripes of gray, umber and marigold, the items would look especially nice nestled between books on a shelf.) “Akio’s 59, and his body is telling him to slow down,” says Tung Chiang, Heath’s studio director. “It’s not about making more work but about making more significant work. He wants to leave his footprint as a potter in the world.”
Read the original article.
Image credit: Tsutsumi Yano
After being in business nearly 75 years, the Sausalito, California-based Heath Ceramics is still beloved for its durable but beautiful plates, cups and bowls, but many of the company’s most dedicated fans also fervently collect its design collaborations with various global makers, some of which sell out online in minutes. Up next is Heath’s partnership with Akio Nukaga, a veteran potter from Kasama, Japan, who works with his wife, daughter or the occasional assistant to make pieces with pleated surfaces that are inspired by traditional shinogi carving techniques. The ceramist has been collaborating with the team at Heath since 2009; for this year’s presentation, “A Single Line will Lead Me,” opening this week, he challenged himself to move away from functional pieces like, say, mugs and saucers and instead create vessels, sculptures, vases, totems and other artistic one-offs that are primarily meant to be displayed. (In variegated stripes of gray, umber and marigold, the items would look especially nice nestled between books on a shelf.) “Akio’s 59, and his body is telling him to slow down,” says Tung Chiang, Heath’s studio director. “It’s not about making more work but about making more significant work. He wants to leave his footprint as a potter in the world.”
Read the original article.
Image credit: Tsutsumi Yano
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