Kazunori Hamana
Blue Projects presents a solo exhibition of ceramic works by Japanese ceramicist Kazunori Hamana. This is the first exhibition of Hamana’s work in the UK.
Built by hand using a variety of natural clays sourced from the Shiga prefecture, finished with unusual surface treatments and glazes made from elemental and regional materials such as soils and metals, Hamana’s work draws on ancient techniques and processes, exploring the balance between the mark of the human gesture and the effects of nature.
The exhibition is comprised of five large vessels that make reference to the traditional Japanese tsubo, a functional clay jar dating back to prehistoric times used in farmhouses to store and process food. Once fired, the works are placed outside and around his studio on the east coast of Japan where they are left to age, marked over time by the changing of the seasons, collecting traces of wear as part of the finished object.
Kazunori Hamana (b. 1969) lives and works in Chiba, Japan. Hamana studied at MiraCosta College in San Diego, California after which he returned to Japan to open his own restaurant and sneaker shop in Harajuku, Tokyo. Since relocating to Chiba in 2008, Hamana has worked as a ceramicist as well as a fisherman, producing and selling his own anchovy sauce. His work has been exhibited at Playmountain, Tokyo; Dieci, Osaka; Hidari Zingaro, Tokyo; and Curator’s Cube, Tokyo; and included in group exhibitions curated by Takashi Murakami at Blum & Poe in New York and Los Angeles, and Juxtapoz x Superflat at Pivot Art + Culture, Seattle and Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver.