Half Dome at Night in a Rain Storm - Nezumi Shino Chopping Board with Kintsugi Repair

I am traveling for a short holiday break from the studio. Earliest possible ship date is 12-21-21.

The techniques found in this Nezumi Shino Chopping Board are grounded in my undergraduate and graduate research in Japanese ceramics and my work in the Brooklyn Museum in the Asian Art Department. It combines traditional nezumi shino techniques using American ingredients and the traditional Japanese restoration technique of Kintsugi, using lacquer and gold for mending cracks. The end result is an image of my youth. The view of Yosemite’s Half Dome at night in a thunderstorm.

The chopping board was formed by laminating four extrusions of clay into one thick slap and leaving the top edge rough to encourage vertical cracks. Once leather hard the decoration was executed with one iron-bearing slip and one shino glaze. This piece was then fired over several day to 1300°c and allowed to cool. Upon cooling work in this Lighting Storm Raining Shino Series is evaluated for the aesthetic quality of the crack and those deemed appropriate are repaired with the traditional Japanese technique of Kintsugi using urushi and gold.

This piece is representative of my ceramic work as a Californian looking at the natural landscapes of the State of California and its precarious balance with water. The Kintsugi repair in this piece was executed with the materials that I am selling in my Etsy store.

Golden Guarantee:

In April 2006 I completed my Master’s Dissertation at NYU, Chanoyu and The Art of Desirable Decay…
in it I took, what was at the time an unconventional stance, in that I believe that certain functional museum objects and most functional art are meant to be used and are sometimes designed to change with use. While working at the Brooklyn Museum I was tasked with contacting many of the Japanese ceramic artists in the museum’s collection to ask them about their thoughts on this topic and what they think about how one of their works should be conserved and/or preserved. These conversations strengthened my belief that objects are designed to be used and are in reality not just a decorative and functional form of art, but also part of an experiential art form.

In my ceramic work this is no exception. I believe that every piece of functional ceramic that is purchased from me should be used and experienced. The softness of the lips, the imperfections in the clay and glaze, the texture of the foot, are all designed to affect the senses. Because of this, I will repair any object that was purchased directly from me using the traditional Japanese restoration technique of Kintsugi for any reason. All you will have to do is pay for shipping both to and from my studio in the heart of Silicon Valley. The object will be repaired using appropriate materials for the need and an alternative gold powder will be used. If real gold or a more decorative repair is preferred I can accommodate this with a small charge for the cost of material and additional time beyond a standard Kintsugi repair.