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Title
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Toshiko Takaezu
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Description
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Toshiko Takaezu was a very influential artist because she did not follow the norm and made art that expressed herself and upbringing. Takaezu was born in Hawaii in 1922, she was one of 11 children and was influenced by art at a very young age. Her family was a very traditional Japanese family and the first school that she went to was very encouraging of her artistic abilities. She then went onto study both painting and ceramics, and worked at a ceramic studio in Honolulu. All of this experience is what gave her the confidence to be so creative and unorthodox in her works. Takaezu created her pieces with a balance of self-discovery and self-expression as she made items that were meaningful in that they told a story but not the whole story. Her idea to make rounded and sealed ceramics was a way of “hiding” what was inside, as you can truly never know anything about something or something. This was a symbol of her inner-self, as you can examine the outside of the work all you want but it will only tell you so much about what is inside. Moreover, she would often put a small piece of clay inside to give an audio effect to the work (Takaezu Foundation). This was very new in America because at the time, most ceramic works were created as functional pieces that served a daily purpose, but Takaezu’s pieces elevated the medium to a form of fine art. Aligned with her Japanese upbringing, she used her work as a form of meditation, as it was very calming for her to craft her sculptures. The ceramic work featured here is called, “The Dancing Brush,” and is a very good example of what most of her works looked like. It took many years but this was roughly the final shape that she settled on for her ceramic pieces. Her ceramics were heavily influenced by the minimalist ideals of Zen Buddhism and Japanese aesthetics (Art, 1990). Toshiko Takaezu passed away not long ago in 2011.
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Alternative Title
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The Dancing Brush
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Source
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Art Institute of Chicago. “Dancing Brush.” The Art Institute of Chicago.
Ceramic School. “Toshiko Takaezu.” Ceramic School.
Toshiko Takaezu Foundation. “About Toshiko.” Toshiko Takaezu Foundation.
Toshiko Takaezu Foundation. “Dancing Brush (Handbuilt), Art Institute of Chicago.” Toshiko Takaezu Foundation.
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Name
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Patch Flanagan
