Minako Yamane-Lee
“I call my work “Poetry of Clay”.
I try to create through a lump of clay something which invites you quietly and personally”
Artist Statement
Often the motifs for my work are drawn from traditional Japanese culture or objects from daily life. The seasonal elements in nature are also essential to my work.
The origami technique of meeting four corners of the paper played a role in the design of my squarish handbuilt teapots, and the graceful rooflines of Japanese shrines and temples have influenced their ridges. Their clay handles are adaptations of a torii shrine gate. Their lids recall the stone lanterns you see in shrine and temple gardens. I call this group of handbuilt teapots my “shrine series.”
On the stage of the Kabuki theatre on New Year’s Day, a dance with a traditional paper fan begins the program. Suehiro, the classical Japanese word for fan, literally means (spreading out to) a wide span at the end, and so the fan symbolizes growth, prosperity, success, happiness, whatever may be good. The dance with the fan conveys a “Happy New Year” message. Likewise, my ceramic suehiro embody good fortune and the boundless riches of the natural world. Pampas grass under the autumnal moon, winter persimmons on a leafless branch: each season has its own beauty.
Now, imagine! When we need a break from the pressures of daily life, a flying ship of clay will take us on a ride into the vastness of the universe.
