Painted Oribe incense burner c. 1990s

This painted Oribe incense burner was made by Yanagihara Mutsuo, and look at the way he’s pushed and pulled that clay, I just love it. The dark palette is punctuated by earthier browns with those stark, silvery gray painted marks, it’s like little ghosts floating in the glaze. I imagine Mutsuo thinking about how the fire would transform his gestures, surrendering to the kiln’s alchemy. It is this dialogue between intention and chance that makes ceramics so exciting. The Oribe style is so bold and unconventional, it’s a reminder that ceramics doesn’t have to be precious or delicate. I can imagine this piece sitting alongside the work of someone like Lucio Fontana, who was also thinking about surface, space, and the gesture, albeit in a very different medium. Ultimately, all artists are in conversation with one another, pushing boundaries and challenging conventions across time and space.