Plate 2010

This plate was made by Okada Yūji, sometime in the late 20th, early 21st century, and it lives at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Can you imagine Yūji patiently working on it, coiling and layering, maybe even getting into a meditative state? I mean, look how the texture builds up from the base and those shimmering lines dance across the surface. It’s kind of like a topographic map, with each layer telling a story. The iridescent colours – greens, blues, purples – give it a magical feel, as if it was plucked from a fairy tale. It makes me think of the incredible ceramics of Ken Price, and the way he layered colors. It also reminds me how artists are always in conversation with one another, borrowing, riffing, and adding to the mix. Each choice, each coil, is a step in a mysterious dance where control meets chance.