Profile... A Gentle Quietness
Portrait courtesy of the artist
In 2024 JamFactory’s Collect space will host a solo exhibition by Japanese born, Melbourne based ceramicist Yoko Ozawa.
Words by Ali Carpenter
Ali is Retail & Gallery Manager at JamFactory.
Ozawa first visited Australia to experience a different environment and seek fresh creative inspiration. After completing studies in both Fine Art and Graphic Design in Tokyo, Ozawa enrolled in a ceramic course, but considers herself mostly self-taught. While she doesn’t recall what drew her to working with clay initially, she enjoys its recyclable nature – the way in which she can practice creating forms repeatedly, until eventually choosing to fire them. Ozawa feels that many ceramicists learn this way, through ongoing experimentation and continual practice, likening her learning to the way in which trees continue to grow.
Ozawa established her studio in Melbourne in 2012 but has been exploring ceramics since 2003, creating both functional and sculptural works informed by an awareness of her immediate surroundings and natural phenomena.
“Unstable weather changes, seasonal transitions, temperature, force, attraction, light and shadow… We cannot always see the natural phenomena, but I can illuminate their existence through my experiences. I try to look at this discovery attentively in ordinary everyday life. That motivates me for my creations.”
Yoko Ozawa, Fukidamari - A Bank of falling Leaves, 2023, photo courtesy of the artist
“Unstable weather changes, seasonal transitions, temperature, force, attraction, light and shadow… We cannot always see the natural phenomena, but I can illuminate their existence through my experiences”
Yoko Ozawa, Teapot, photo courtesy of the artist
Ozawa is deeply influenced by the Japanese concept of yohaku, which is often translated simply as ‘blank space’. The theory of beauty having more impact when something is removed is a way of perceiving beauty that is unique to Japan, and she was first introduced to yohaku when studying Japanese painting. Ozawa explains it in more detail by saying “there is space, and the objects between, and these elements interact with each other.” This involves careful consideration of the forms she makes, but also the still spaces she allows between them in final installation.
Her functional wares have a distinctive Japanese aesthetic, with clean lines, strong form, and subtle beauty. There is often minimal use of colour in her work, although some pieces display intriguing tonal variation upon closer inspection of their glazed, crackled surfaces. “I try to control and manipulate the shapes as much as possible, but in contrast, for the glazing, touch minimally and let the pieces evolve through firing. The result is what I call ‘skin’. The ceramics should be solid, but still breathing, or being exposed to be part of the air (surroundings).”
Ozawa’s unassuming, harmonious works exude a gentle quietness, but engage the viewer to contemplate not simply the work itself, but the whole environment in which it is presented. In recent years she has had the opportunity to work on larger scale installations, with Ozawa attempting to convey the atmosphere between objects and their surroundings. While aiming to balance the different elements of her work, Ozawa says it’s not simply about navigating perfection and imperfection (the wabi sabi).
“Between artwork and functional ware, shapes and textures, inside and outside vessels… I try to find lines, but this can’t be controlled perfectly.”
Yoko Ozawa is a widely exhibited artist, having exhibited across Australia, Japan and England in both group and solo shows, and her work features in many private collections. The artist is looking forward to the prospect of exhibiting at JamFactory, with its floor to ceiling windows allowing full sun to pour into the Collect space, enabling her to continue creating her installations inspired by yohaku, emphasising the relationship between her work and the exhibition environment.
Yoko Ozawa will be showing in Collect at JamFactory Tarntanya/Adelaide from 22 February – 24 March 2024