Moon Jars by Akiko Hirai - GOLDMARK

The Moon Jar is about the most famous ceramic form to come out of Korea, beloved by collectors and potters alike, and it's easy to see why. Traditionally made from two hemispherical bowls that are then flipped and joined around the middle, the Moon Jar is a kind of beautiful and serene encapsulation of all that ceramics is about. They became a kind of celebration of the imperfections in nature, the slight distortions that would occur to the shape during firing, and traditional Korean Moon Jars were collected by potters particularly in the last 100 years and have become extraordinarily valuable. It's a form that many potters have taken to, and the Moon Jars that you see around me here by Akiko Hirai are perhaps her most significant, her most well-known work. It's easy to see why we have these extraordinary surfaces, completely unlike the traditional Moon Jar which was pale, simple, white, austere. Here we've got extraordinary layering of all kinds of techniques and materials. There is slip that has been swiped over the surface of these pots, huge chunks of porcelain and clay that have been added over time. We've got these amazing rivulets of different ash glazes that have been laid, one over the top of the other, and the result is extraordinary. There's such richness and colour and complexity to the surface of these jars that they evoke any number of natural associations. You can see things that look like waterfalls here, elements of moss and forest floors, of sunken treasures, of coral reefs, of candle wax that has melted and formed a beautiful glassy surface. For Akiko, these Moon Jars have become a kind of encapsulation of all that she does, a technical encapsulation of all the materials that she uses, the glazes she uses, but also a kind of metaphor for her life as a potter. She puts them under incredible strain. She loads them with all kinds of material, putting stress on the surface of them, on the shape underneath, the form underneath, and they emerge from the kiln, most of them, as survivors of this process. And they emerge beautiful, resplendent, rich, really fascinating things to look at, to feel and enjoy, like all of her work. This has been Akiko's third exhibition at the Gallery and there are variations between these extraordinary Moon Jars, some with the ash glazes, the encrustations we're used to, others somewhat drier and dustier, like the clay has been sprinkled over the surface. They speak to a slightly different kind of aesthetic, one that's been inspired by her visits to Vesuvius in Poppea, to the Italian town of Volterra. Akiko is a potter who draws on every experience, every visual key, every texture, surface she sees around her, and brings them all into her work. And I think these Moon Jars are a kind of extraordinary conclusion, a wonderful encapsulation of everything that is magical about her work.