Mori Tōgaku

Born 1937, Imbe, Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

As the leading artist working in traditional Bizen techniques, MORI TŌGAKU has been at the forefront of the Japanese ceramic art world for more than thirty years. In 1985, he completed an extraordinarily large semi-underground climbing kiln, where most of his work has been produced. In 2015, he completed an even larger 85-meter Momoyama-style climbing kiln, where he has begun firing new pieces. This completely wood-powered kiln is unprecedented in size, and demonstrates the spirit of his work well. While he remains deeply rooted in traditional styles and techniques, his work pushes beyond the boundaries of the past. Influenced by ancient Bizen ware and its Chinese prototypes, such as Sue ware, he highly values the texture of clay and sometimes combines two or three different kinds of clay to create vessels that are both dramatically modern and reflective of old tradition.