Umakawa Yūsuke — Sculptural black stoneware guinomi with radiating reliefs

Japan, 21st century

Small sculptural stoneware vessel, in the register of a guinomi or small sake cup, but treated here as an almost autonomous form. The main volume is a short, deeply hollowed cylinder, entirely encircled by conical and lobed outgrowths that give it the appearance of a living organism, a sea urchin, or an irradiated mineral form. The black-brown surface with metallic reflections is highly worked by fire. It presents a rough, burnt skin, punctuated by cavities, blisters, and dark nuances that reinforce the piece's almost volcanic character.

The work's interest lies in the tension between use and sculpture. The circular opening remains clear and functional, but the rest of the volume develops as a proliferation of points and nodules, in a logic that extends far beyond the simple typology of a cup. The underside bears an incised signature corresponding to 馬川祐輔, read Umakawa Yūsuke, which connects the work to a ceramist whose work is precisely known for its organic, primitive, or biomorphic forms, often inspired by the natural world.

Born in 1984 in Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture, Umakawa Yūsuke graduated from the ceramic section of the Osaka University of Arts in 2006, then from the technical course of the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center in 2008. He currently works in Tamba-Sasayama. Gallery and professional event notices emphasize a personal universe where everyday objects, organic forms, inspirations drawn from insects, animals, plants, and, more recently, more geometric or primitive motifs, intersect.

This piece clearly belongs to the freer part of his work. It shows an artist who does not strictly separate utilitarian ceramics from plastic research. The guinomi here becomes a small object of presence, almost totemic, where the energy of the hand, the assumed irregularity, and the firing effects count as much as the function.

Dimensions: height 11.5 cm; width 9 cm; depth 8.5 cm.