Hyō (飆; Things That Are Like the Traces of Gushing Qi) is a White Rock Raku tea bowl created by Raku Jikinyū in 2024 as an homage to Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu. Jikinyū first encountered Takemitsu’s avant-garde music while studying sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts and continued to engage with his work for decades.
Formed from porcelain clay containing silica sand, the bowl has a generously rounded, expanded body carved to exceptional thinness. This combination creates a tension between the vessel’s substantial exterior presence and the delicacy of the space held within. For Jikinyū, this interior is not simply the functional space of a tea bowl but kū – emptiness – as an essential aspect of existence, explored through the relationship between inside and outside.
The largely unglazed white porcelain surface becomes a ground for sweeping areas of Namibian red clay and copper oxide, punctuated by vivid green marks made with chromium oxide. Fired at approximately 1,270°C under reduction conditions, the bowl underwent three firings using both electric and fuel kilns. Between firings, Jikinyū added further applications of colorants, allowing the surface to develop progressively through successive acts of firing and drawing. The resulting surface has a distinctly painterly quality, translating Jikinyū’s long engagement with Takemitsu’s music into an interplay of form, space, movement, and mark.
Exhibitions
Raku Kichizaemon XV Jikinyū – Homage to Alban Berg and Toru Takemitsu, 2024, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, ENGLAND
