Friday, August 19, 2011

Ornate Porcelain Skulls by Katsuyo Aoki, The Predictive Dream Series.







Japanese artist Katsuyo Aoki has been working in ceramic for several years. Her Predictive Dream Series was brought to my attention by the fabulous Gblog. The series consists sculptural skulls rendered as intricately worked porcelain pieces that are simultaneously demonic and delicate.







































Artist Statement:

Currently, I use ceramics as my material in my method of expression, incorporating various decorative styles, patterns, and symbolic forms as my principal axis in creating my works.



The decorative styles and forms I allude to and incorporate in my works each contain a story based on historical backgrounds and ideas, myths, and allegories.Their existence in the present age makes us feel many things,; adoration, some sort of romantic emotions, a sense of unfruitfulness and languor from their excessiveness and vulgarity.







And on the other hand, they make us feel tranquility and awe that can almost be described as religious, as well as an image as an object of worship. By citing such images, I feel I am able to express an - atmosphere- that is a part of the complex world in this age.



In fact, the several decorative styles and forms I cite simultaneously hold divine and vulgar meaning in the present age, having an irrational quality that contradict each other, which I feel express an important aspect in the contemporary age in which we live.



Also, the technique of ceramics has a tradition that has been a part of the history of decoration over a long time, and I feel the delicateness and fragile tension of the substantial material well express my concept.







Katsuyo Aoki is represented by Roentgenwerke Gallery