Japanese Artist Crafts Luminous Vessels

Like fireflies, the work of Niisato Akio resembles delicate orbs of light. And this spring will bring both to Boston with Niisato’s first U.S. exhibition. The slender, white porcelain creations are etched with intricate patterns, shaped as both everyday vessels and more obtuse and nontraditional forms. Last Monday, Niisato demonstrated his unique technique of creating the patterns on his ceramics with a drill and gave a presentation on his past works and artistic history at the Ceramics Studio, run by the Office for the Arts.

Niisato’s work is currently on exhibition in Boston at the KEIKO Gallery. The exhibition, titled “Luminous Vessels,” opened last Saturday and will run through May 4. Keiko Fukai, the owner and director of the gallery, opened the space in 2003 to showcase contemporary Japanese art, hosting about nine different exhibitions a year. Interested in promoting Niisato’s work in the U.S., she invited him to exhibit at her gallery.

“I contacted Akio about three years ago to ask him if I could exhibit some of his smaller pieces in my gallery,” Fukai says. “Akio is extremely famous in Japan and is one of the most promising new artists in the country. Everybody knows him.”

The “sweet and talented young artist,” as described by Fukai, found his passion for ceramics at an early age.

“I began studying ceramics while I was in high school but attended college as a Philosophy and Literature major,” Niisato said through a translator during an interview. “I joined a ceramic art club as a hobby but found that my passion was too strong to resist and left school at the age of 21 to attend a special training school. I graduated in 2001 and have been creating my own work ever since.”

Each of Niisato’s works is extremely unique, both in their shapes and the patterns imprinted on each one. During the presentation, Niisato demonstrated his approach. He first thinned out a rough shape of a vessel from which to create a more delicate shape; then he drew lines around the vessel with a traditional Japanese calligraphy pen, tilting his work on the wheel to create different patterns. As he did this, he explained that often he draws these lines freehanded, but sometimes he conceives of a pattern, such as a flower, beforehand. Once he outlined the patterns he wanted, Niisato carefully drilled holes along the lines he had made, using differently sized drill bits depending on what size holes he wished to create. The distances between the holes gave the appearance of having been measured with a ruler, but, in reality, Niisato determined the precise distances using only his eye. After completing the demonstration, he told his audience that he often fires his vessels almost four times in the kiln, and between each firing, he covers them with a traditional glaze to fill in the holes.

Before developing the artistic ceramic technique that Niisato demonstrated last Monday, he created pieces designed for everyday use, like painted ceramic cups and bowls. But the exhibition in Boston consists of works that are not for everyday use and are instead to be viewed as pieces of art. Because of the influence of his professors at his special training school, Niisato finds it extremely important to have a balance between traditional Japanese ceramics as useful objects and as art. He continues to make more practical vessels as well as art pieces.

“I am inspired by the history and tradition of the Japanese ceramic arts,” Niisato said. “I push myself to be the successor of hundreds of years of history, and I see myself as both an extension and a frontrunner of ceramic art in Japan.”

The glowing nature of Niisato’s work gives the large variety of sizes and shapes amongst his works a similarly striking beauty. His collection features pieces shaped like practical bowls and cups, slightly misshapen variations of practical vessels made to seem more artistic in nature, and more creative shapes that Niisato calls his “experiments.” The breadth of his collection may not seem to have one single meaning, but Niisato does know what he wants the audience to take away from his creations.

“Through my work, it’s hard to say definitely what I am trying to convey, but I want to express my passion for ceramics to the viewer,” Niisato said. “I want the viewer to have their own experience with the work as a piece of art and for that experience to change with them through time. Other than that, I think my work speaks better for itself than I speak for it.”

Although he has won international awards at competitions such as the International Ceramic Festival in 2008, Niisato is looking forward to extending his work into the U.S. while keeping true to his traditional Japanese ceramic style.

“My intention is to expand my style into the future,” Niisato said, “to let people in the United States know about the history of ceramic art, and to foster a further interest and understanding of the style and history of Japanese ceramic art.”