Flow #1
Fujikasa Satoko (Japanese, born 1980)
Flow #1, 2011
Stoneware with matte white slip
26 1/8 x 27 x 23 1/8 inches
Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Asian Art Council© Fujikasa Satoko
2013.15.1
Fujikasa Satoko,* at an early age, is winning accolades in her native Japan and in the United States asa rising star in the field of ceramics. Japan has a flourishing ceramics tradition, and more than 10,000
artisans make a living there as studio potters. The vast majority of these craftsmen create dishware
for the dining table or cups and pitchers for drinking tea or saké—functional pieces that sell well toJapanese households. But for those who strive to be “clay artists”—whether they make functional,whimsical, or sculptural objects—the competition for gallery space and critical attention is severe. A
famous master of ceramics can be a national celebrity in Japan, but the field is overwhelmingly
dominated by men.
To understand how exceptional Fujikasa’s work is, it is important to know that pottery was
historically exclusively a male occupation in Japan. In rural valleys where good clay could readily be
dug from the ground, the men in the village would collaborate in ceramic production. The mostskilled workers would shape the vessels on a wheel, while others dug up and mixed clay or choppedwood. A few times a year, the village kiln would be fired. A traditional noborigama, or climbing kiln,
is constructed of brick and mud, with several chambers rising on a hillside slope. The kiln canaccommodate a huge number of pots at one time, but one had to earn the right to have one’s works
included. And because the kiln had to be fed with firewood continuously for several days, it requireda heroic effort by a well-knit team of workers. The harsh, demanding nature of the work—as well as
traditional prejudices—forbade women from approaching the kiln.
Change came slowly following World War II. New laws against air pollution forced potters living nearcities to switch to gas or electric kilns, which were smaller and easy to operate. Suddenly, it became
possible for potters to work alone, in a small studio. Furthermore, in response to a new constitution
guaranteeing equal education for women, there were new opportunities for women to study the arts
in formal settings, such as art colleges. Fujikasa is at the leading edge of the second generation ofwomen ceramists in Japan.
Fujikasa studied ceramics at Tokyo University of the Arts, the most prestigious art university in Japan.
For three years she followed the prescribed program, focused on the wheel, but it was only when
she transferred to the sculpture department in her senior year that she began to find her own artisticvoice. She went on for an M.A., and her thesis work, a large molded sculpture, won the first of many
awards. Feeling that molds were not the best way to bring out the unique properties of clay, sheswitched to what has become her signature technique: she fashions her sculptures by kneading clay
into coils and hand-building the form. As the work slowly grows, she carves it into the desired shape.
In her hands, this most ancient method of forming clay leads to astonishing creations that appear
lighter than air—as though they are embodiments of wind itself.
Fujikasa has said that her goal is to express nature’s vital force—the vitality of constant change—in
her work. Her sources of inspiration vary widely: exhibitions of European Baroque painting that shesaw as a child, videos of Loie Fuller’s Serpentine Dance, and photographs of Antelope Canyon inArizona. The Portland Art Museum is proud to be home to Flow #1, one of Fujikasa’s most ambitious
early works.

*In Japan, the family name is given before the personal name.

DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES•Blind contour drawing activity: Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil. Spend 30 seconds looking at thisposter’s photograph of Fujikasa Satoko’s sculpture Flow #1. Without looking away from the image,
begin to sketch the sculpture. Do not lift your pencil or look down at your work as you sketch.
Continue for one minute, then stop, look at your sketch, and compare it to the poster. What did you
notice about the sculpture while you sketched it? What kinds of lines and shapes did you create? Did
you move the pencil quickly or slowly? Why? Repeat this activity in front of the sculpture during a visit
to the Portland Art Museum. Observe and draw the sculpture from different angles.

•Look closely at the image of Satoko’s sculpture for 30 seconds. Write 10 words describing what yousee. Observe for 30 seconds more. Use your imagination and write 10 more words describing thesculpture through senses other than sight. How do you think the sculpture would feel to the touch?
Would the surface be rough or smooth, warm or cold? Would the sculpture be heavy or light? Whatsound would it make if you tapped it? How do you think it would smell or taste?

•In her sculptures, Fujikasa captures dynamic movement. She says, “It is through my intimate dialogue
with my medium that I am able to express nature’s fluid energy. Drawing from both the beauty andpower of this world and the emotional response that they evoke, I hope to convey nature’s life force inthe mind of the viewer.” What natural forces or elements does Flow #1 evoke? How has Fujikasa
created a sense of movement from a material—clay—that is now inert?

•Think of yourself as a dancer and position your body to form a similar shape as Fujikasa’s sculpture.
Change your position to form a different angle of the sculpture. Repeat, adding in additional shapes,
moving as you imagine the Flow sculpture would move. What do you notice about how your bodymoves? Are some angles easier or more difficult to imitate?

•Watch the videos of Fujikasa working with clay to create her sculptures (above). Record each step inher process. Flow #1 is over two feet tall and wide. Yet, the walls of this and other Fujikasa sculptures
are extraordinarily thin, varying from two centimeters (about the size of two sugar cubes placed sideby-side) to three millimeters (about the size of two pennies, stacked). How does she transform the clay
into such large, light forms? Investigate the chemistry and physics of this process. What happens toclay when it is moistened or air-dried or fired in the kiln?