TAO Akira Walking on a Ridge

Description

“Walking on a Ridge” (One o arukitakute, 尾根を歩きたくて) by Tao Akira appears almost otherworldly — nearly floating, as if released from gravity. The individual elements, which seem to have grown naturally, come together in a clear and balanced composition. Despite its strong presence, the sculpture radiates a remarkable sense of calm. Through its structure and glaze, it evokes the powerful attraction of mountainous landscapes.

Made from Shigaraki clay and wood-fired, the surface is covered with a warm, earthy glaze. It flows across edges and planes like melting snow along a mountain ridge — gathering, breaking apart, and setting the form into motion. It is precisely this movement of the glaze that gives the work such vitality without disturbing its profound sense of calm.

At the same time, certain areas are intentionally left exposed, revealing the clay in its own material quality — its tsuchi-aji (土味), granular texture, and earthy character. The wood firing not only shapes the clay itself, but also transforms the glaze. It alters its colouring, creates subtle tonal variations, and, through traces of titanium, produces cool, slightly bluish accents in places.

The geometric, cubist aesthetic language is unmistakably that of Tao Akira. And here too, despite its sculptural presence, a clear sense of function remains: the work can still be read as a vase, rooted in the Japanese tradition in which object and use are never entirely separate.

The sculpture is delivered in a signed wooden box.

TAO AKIRA

Tao Akira, originally from Nagasaki, combines geometric, freely constructed forms with the tradition of wood firing in Shigaraki, his artistic home. His sculptural “objects” represent an independent, contemporary position beyond the conventions of classical tea ceramics.