The moon in her many phases, geometric patters, a dazzling world of fine lines…

Hayasuke’s work hints at some story. They often have the reverence of prayer, and they calm the heart.

“I feel like people who see my work read more deeply into it than I do. It sparks of kind of ‘story’ in that person. I’m still green, but I think it would be lovely make a piece within that ‘space’.”

On this day, I visited Hayasuke’s home and studio in Nomi City to get a closer look at her work. Plants are here and there throughout the clean white room, and a small electric kiln sits next to her work desk. She works her “stories” day and night in this small room the size of only five tatami mats (7.6 sq m, or 82 sq ft) which makes up her studio.

A “meticulous” way of looking at the world and oneself

Her geometric style, centered around a circular pattern, is often described as “Islamic.”

“I do imagine the Middle East as an endless paradise, and it’s a landscape I long to see for myself one day. However, when I’m creating my own work, I don’t think of anything concrete, and I don’t copy Islamic patterns. I think that leads to cultural appropriation. During colonial periods, colonizers took parts of indigenous culture away from its people to make a profit, returning nothing to the people from whom it was taken. I don’t want to be connected to such exploitation.”

The range of Kuntaniware artists include many from a variety of backgrounds, but Hayasuke is among the more unusual. Her process can be described as a projection of her own “meticulous way” of viewing herself and the world around her.

Hayasuke was born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, and she is a graduate of Doshisha University’s Department of Theology. She was originally keen on mathematics and science in high school, but after failing college entrance exams, reconsidered her path. At that time, news of terrorism was frequent, and, while at a mission school for girls, she felt an unreasonable bias had been placed on women. She chose to study theology, she says, because “understanding religion is essential” to understanding the nature of many disharmonies.

It was refreshing to learn about so many other beliefs and languages. “However, while living on campus, I still had so much frustration and a sense of failure from not being able to pass the entrance exams that I kept looking for something to devote myself to.” Around this time, she began working at a hotel restaurant part time and began to learn more about the world of wine.

“What I always loved about mathematics was how it could be understood through analytics alone. In contrast, English and history require memorization. Around that time I developed this idea that doing what you love should be a kind of escape. And the prospect of more memorization, which studying the field of wine also requires, frustrated my motivation.”

However, the more she studied wine, the more absorbed she became in the field. “In the Christian Bible, wine is associated with all kinds of miracles. I was fascinated with the idea of wine being not simply a luxury item, but deeply connected to history, location, and culture.”

After graduating from university, she began working as a wine importer. When she was appointed as a start-up member to a new store, she would start her shift at 7 o’clock in the morning and take the last train home before completing her work there. After three years of this being her daily routine, she was struck with the thought, “I want more autonomy in my life.”

Living one’s own life

Around that time, her thoughts turned to painting. “I’ve always loved seeing and drawing pictures. Actually, when I was preparing for college entrance exams, I’d started going to drawing classes thinking I might try for an art school. I gave up on it, thinking I wasn’t supposed to pursue what I liked, but when I decided that I wanted to live life for myself, I thought ‘I would be happy if I could make a living from painting’.”

Hayasuke considered her decision carefully. Her education was not in art, nor did she have a honed sense for it. But couldn’t she make a way for herself with enough skill and determination? She realized that kogei, Japan’s traditional handmade crafts, would be an opportunity. “I have this feeling that as the world moves more toward artificial intelligence, there will also be more value in works from human hands,” she says.

Among the many kind of kogei crafts to pursue, Hayasuke chose pottery. The importance of the vessel was something she’d come to appreciate through her work with wine. “Where there is wine, there is a meal, and if the dishes are beautiful, the space becomes such that the wine tastes even better. So, I became interested in their power.”

Even learning basic pottery techniques at the Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto, like throwing clay on the wheel, her thoughts still turned to painting. She encountered Kyo-Satsuma* pottery at the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum, where she had a part-time job alongside her schooling. The museum director at the time introduced her to Buzan Fukushima**, who inspired her to look more closely at highly detailed porcelain panting styles.

* Kyo-Satsuma is a style of Satsuma-ware produced mainly in the Meiji and Taisho eras around Kyoto. It’s distinct for it’s elaborate gold detailing.

** Buzan Fukushima is a master artisan of fine-line red-painted Kutaniware.

The liberality of Kutaniware creation, where artists are free to play

“It was there I first came to learn about Kutaniware porcelain. The details of the paint work were already amazing, but I also felt that the painters themselves were artists in their own right. When I first wanted to become a Kutani artist, I thought I would just be happy to work with my hands, but gradually, I wanted more. [Laughter.] I thought, ‘I want to express my view of the world.’ In Satsuma-ware and Kyo-Satsuma pottery, I’d say painting is more the job of the craftsman at the kiln, so I wondered if I could be more of an artist working with Kutani.”

And so, in 2018, Hayasuke came to Ishikawa Prefecture to create Kutaniware in the city of Kanazawa. After making connections, she now studies under Toshito Nakamura, a Kutani artist living in Nomi City, while also working on her own pieces. “The most surprising thing in coming here was the generosity of everyone involved in Kutaniware. I feel like they genuinely support the challenges of young artists. For example, you typically would have to ask your teacher for permission to hold a solo exhibition, but here, there’s more freedom. I started my own brand, and I can see how warmly they guide the attempts of newcomers like me.”

Hayasuke’s brand, “Harutonari,” specializes in wine-related goods, such as wine openers, made with Kutani porcelain.

“I wish I could do more with wine and enjoy myself with it. But it’s still difficult to making a living only as an artist, and many young artists work part-time to make ends meet. When I quit my previous job, I was determined to only do the work I loved from then on and so I ended up here. Even so, it’s hard to balance the difference between thinking like an artist and thinking like a business person,” she says with a smile.

From December 12th to the end of 2020, her first solo exhibition was held at the Kanazawa-based gallery, Enishira. The gallery owner found Hayasuke’s work on  Instagram when she was still unknown and asked her to come.

“Painting in this detailed way is so gradual, but the feeling of building it up suits my character,” she says. In the two years since she joined the world of Kutaniware, her own world has begun to revolve around herself, and I for one look forward to how her work will evolve in the future.

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▼ “Exhibition: Chiharu Hayasuke”

dates: Dec. 12 (Sat.) – Dec. 20 (Sun.), 2020
venue: Enishira (1-13-10 Higashiyama, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture)
hours: 10:00 – 17:00
dates with the artist present: Dec. 12, 13, 19, & 20.

Chiharu Hayasuke Exhibition::enishira