ENCHANTED OBJECTS
A N E S S A Y B Y R H I A N N O N P A G E T C U R A T O R O F A S I A N A R T , T H E J O H N & M A B L E R I N G L I N G M U S E U M O F A R T
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Kim Hono as a child wearing his school uniform in Aichi Prefecture, Japan Image courtesy of the artist
Born in 1958 into a Korean family in the ancient kiln-town of Seto, Aichi prefecture, Kim Hono grew up surrounded by potters and pottery. The allure of the potter’s wheel drew him to the Aichi Prefectural Ceramics Advanced Training School, although at that time he intended to become a designer. An encounter with Oribe ceramics from the Momoyama period (1573–1603) inspired him to devote his life to ceramics. After graduating in 1977, he embarked upon an apprenticeship at a local kiln, and in 1982, became an independent artist. He opened his first solo exhibition in Nagoya in 1985, and has since shown his work in solo and group shows at museums, galleries, national juried exhibitions, and other important forums Beloved among private collectors at home and abroad, Kim’s work is yet to make its way into many museum collections. In the United States, examples of his ceramics can be found at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Portland Art Museum.
Kim’s ceramics are varied and defy tidy categorization. One of the first works I had the pleasure of a close encounter with is an enormous, roughly hewn tea bowl in a private collection (pictured left: Bug-Eaten Black Tea Bowl).
The unglazed black pigment has sloughed off in places to expose the coarse clay body beneath, chock-full of large white grains of quartz an effect called mushi-kui, or “bug eaten.” It is rough to touch and heavy in the hands a bricklayer’s cup. But add a couple of scoops of matcha and whisk it to a froth, and the magic begins The tea is bright and fresh against the rough, dark surface. A subtle groove in the thick walls is shaped perfectly to meet the contour of the lower lip this hulking beast has a tender, human side
(Left) Big eaten black tea bowl Stoneware with black pigment, Image courtesy Rhiannon Paget Private collection, NFS
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A humanist warmth and sense of humor is very apparent in much of Kim Hono’s ceramic work. The imaginative, mostly hand-built forms and expressive surface decoration found speak of a childlike playfulness and sense of mischief. There are animal figurines and whimsically zoomorphic tableware tripod cups that seem poised to scuttle across the table the moment one ’ s back is turned, mugs with handles shaped like muscular arms, butterfly wings, and even animal heads that beg to be picked up and turned in the hand. A sake jug with a suggestively shaped orifice and a heart on its “base” reclines on its back as if drunk and amorous on its contents (Pictured right: No. 1 Sake Pour). Those familiar with Japanese folklore might be reminded of tsukumogami, tools and household articles that become possessed and te former owners upon reaching one hund age
Mostly, Kim produces vessels for every pleasure, rather than large objects tha preferred for museum collections bot he enjoys making Among the larger ob current exhibition is a cylindrical, whee covered with an exoskeleton of curling brightly painted clay. The title, Tatara the technique of tatara-zukuri, or slab whereby potters shape slabs of clay to size and thickness using a flat surface of wood This method is typically used plates and bowls, but Kim, in a playfull gesture, applied it to an entirely differ (page 28 & 29: Tatara Tall Jar).
No
(h) 6" x (w) 3.5" x (d) 3" 10
1 Sake Pour, Tsugi 注器 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware
Kim treats the bodies of his ceramic objects as canvases for the play of his brush His surface treatments encompass rugged monochromatic finishes, like the tea bowl mentioned above, multicolored abstract designs, whimsical line drawings, and motifs from the natural world. Among his recent creations is a tea bowl whose glowing, block-color design brings to mind a Palm Springs sunset (page 32). He frequently creates textured patterns by stamping or incising the clay before it hardens (page 33). Other works are inscribed with snippets of text in Japanese, Korean, and/or Latin script, sometimes jumbled together for the beholder to puzzle over He also works with slips and iron oxide stains
Drawing, sketching, and jotting down notes is critical to his process before, during, and after the completion of the object.
What initially appear to be idle doodles in the pages of his sketchbook coalesce into forms and patterns that become objects and series of objects And then after the object is made, he paints its portrait on the side of its tomobako, or wooden storage box. Sometimes the portrait is abstracted for the BugEaten Black Tea Bowl described above, Kim painted one face of the box in solid black, perhaps in playful reference to Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935).
Original tomobako are generally considered to enhance the value of the artworks that they contain, because they may have signatures or other inscriptions that confirm authorship and provenance.
Collectors of Kim’s work may receive not only a bespoke box, but also a bonus artwork (and from a practical point of view, makes it easy to identify the object without unpacking it).
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(Above) A collection of Kim Hono’s Tomobako (accompanying paulownia wooden boxes) with ink paintings of their corresponding ceramic vessels
Eschewing technical “finish” in favor of a spontaneous, expressive mode, Kim approaches his medium with a childlike curiosity. In the words of his critic Daibō Katsuji, a New York Times-featured barista who developed a mutually respectful friendship with Kim over many cups of coffee, “Mr. Kim refuses to become a master. He persists in using techniques that he has no experience with. Even when it comes to kakiotoshi (wherein the potter scrapes a pattern into a pigment, glaze, or decorative claytype that has been applied to the surface of the ceramic object), it feels like he is trying out a new technique rather than mastering it I think this is a rare idea for an artist Normally, the value of a work increases with skill, whether it's the way it's fired or the way it’s painted. However, by continuing to experiment, Kim says, “It’s really interesting and I can keep going as long as I want.” This inquisitive spirit helps him to avoid repetition. As well as making pottery, Kim also paints, makes lacquered tableware, and creates objet d’art from scrap metal. He has collaborated with fashion designers and written a book an homage to the many hours spent lingering in Daibō’ s Aoyama coffee shop.
There is indeed method, and genealogy, to Kim’s apparent madness The wonky, hand-built forms and abstract and semi-abstract designs of his ceramics connect Kim’s work with Oribe ceramics. Produced during the early 17th century, these wares come in a wide variety of imaginative, complex shapes and are decorated with splashes of white, green, red, or black glaze, as well as stylized designs painted in iron pigment. It was in fact an encounter with Oribe, in the pages of a book, that compelled Kim to become a potter. For his graduation project of 1977, he created a pair of Oribe-style yunomi or tea cups rather decorous compared to the joyful chaos of his later work
Thankfully, Kim’s admiration of the past and interest in historical techniques never constrained his creativity, and each object he creates buzzes with life, humor, and personality. He now presides over a riotous body of work spanning almost half a century that pushes boundaries and challenges expectations with regard to form and finish It is exciting to wonder where his restless imagination and curiosity will take him next
Note 1: For a chronology of Kim’s career, see Mitsumoto Sadako, Shindo Naoko, and Kanematsu Harumi, Love For (Tokyo: Mizusai, 2021). This book accompanies the exhibition Kim Hono-ya organized by Mizusai gallery. One of the few feature-length articles on Kim in English is Sonja Simonis, “Thinking Outside the Box: The Ceramics of Kim Hono ” Ceramics: Art & Perception, No. 96 (Jun./Aug.) 2014, pp. 106–109.
Note 2: The exhibition opened at Shinsakae Gallery (Shinsakae Garō 新栄画廊).
Note 3: Tōgeisha Kim Hono ni semaru, futatsu no shisen Kare no sakuhin ni miryōsareta Daibō Katsuji to Shimoyashiki Kazufumi ga taidan” / “BRUTUS” No 950 November 15, 2021 https://brutus jp/kimhono pottery/?heading=1
Note 4: An exhibition of shirts made by Kim opened at Seedbed Gallery, while Dhal Studio designed clothing decorated with Kim’s drawings His book Daibō kōhī no jikan (Time Spent at Daibō Café), a memoir of his visits to Daibō Katsuji’s Omotesando coffee shop, was published in 2015.
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Selected Jars by Kim Hono in an interior space
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Yellow & Blue Jar, 2017 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware with Color Pigments (h) 10” x (d) 8 2” x (w) 9 2”
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Yellow Jar 1 壺 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware, (h) 20" x (diameter) 16.9" 19
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Yellow Plate 3 盤 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware & accompanying detachable hanging wire (h) 6 1" x (w) 22 8" x (d) 21 6" 21
White Jar 4 壺 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware, (h) 11.8" x (diameter) 9.4"
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Stoneware (h) 10” x (d) 8 2” x (w) 9 2”
Stoneware (h) 14.5" x (diameter) 10.6"
(Left) Yellow & Blue Jar, 2017 With Signed Wood Box
(Right) Chartreuse Jar 5 壺 With Signed Wood Box
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With Signed Wood Box Stoneware & accompanying detachable hanging wire
(h) 6.6" x (w) 22.0" x (d) 22.0"
(Middle)
With Signed Wood Box Stoneware & accompanying detachable hanging wire
(h) 3.5" x (w) 14.5" x (d) 14.5"
Orange Plate 5 盤
(Left) Blue Plate 4 盤
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(Right) Blue Plate 盤 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware & accompanying detachable hanging wire (h) 4.3" x (w) 14.9" x (d) 14.1"
Stoneware (h) 27.2” x (d) 9.6” x (w) 11.1”
Tatara Jar, 2017
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White Jar 2 壺 With Signed Wood Box, Stoneware (h) 12.9" x (diameter) 11.6"
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(Left) No. 5 Colored Tea bowl 色茶碗 With Signed Wood Box; Stoneware (h) 4.5" x (w) 4.7" x (d) 4.4"
(Right) No. 1 Tea bowl 線文茶碗 With Signed Wood Box; Stoneware (h) 4" x (w) 5" x (d) 4.5"
Blue Plate 4 盤 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware & accompanying detachable hanging wire (h) 4 3" x (w) 14 9" x (d) 14 1" 34
Orange Plate 2 盤 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware & accompanying detachable hanging wire (h) 6 2" x (w) 22 0" x (d) 20 8" 35
White Jar 3 壺 With Signed Wood Box, Stoneware (h) 12.5" x (diameter) 9.8"
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Blue Jar 7 壺 With Signed Wood Box, Stoneware (h) 9.8" x (diameter) 8.2"
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Green Jar 6 壺 With Signed Wood Box, Stoneware (h) 11.8" x (diameter) 9.0"
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Green Jar 6 pictured next to Kim Hono’s accompanying decorated tomobako in a garden space
Yellow Cup 1 With Signed Wood Box Stoneware, (h) 4.1" x (w) 5.3" x (d) 4.1"
(Left)
(Right) Tea pot 3: Grey-Beige With Signed Wood Box Stoneware. (h) 5.7" x (w) 8.2"x (d) 5.7"
Selection of sake cups & sake pourer by Kim Hono
Selected Jars by Kim Hono in an interior space
S I N C E C H I L D H O O D , I H A V E L O V E D T O C R E A T E A N D D R A W .
I O F T E N E X P L O R E D T H E M O U N T A I
S N
;
H
子 供 頃
作
描
好
近 山
探 検
N
E A R B Y
子 供 日 過 S U C
W E R E T H E P E A C E F U L D A Y S O F M Y C H I L D H O O D . 作 品 自 分 C R E A T I N G A R T W O R K I S C R E A T I N G M Y S E L F . 人 出 逢 作 品 感 謝 I A M G R A T E F U L T O M Y A R T F O R A L L O W I N G M E T O M E E T A L L K I N D S O F P E O P L E . 金 憲 鎬 K I M H O N O , A R T I S T S T A T E M E N T
A N A F T E R W O R D B Y B E A T R I C E C H A N G
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
Kim Hono has crafted a life as artful and unassuming as his creations. Nestled in the countryside of Seto, he and his beloved wife, alongside their two cats, Kino and Hanako, dwell in a home where the modern world’s clamor dims. Here, amidst an array of pots scattered amongst the lush greenery, animals, and woods, they cultivate their own vegetables, filling their pantry with homegrown produce and the tools of their culinary adventures
Each visit to their home is a retreat into simplicity and sincerity, where the innocent joy of living thrives unspoiled by the external world. Kim does not own a cell phone, nor does he show concern for the outside world’s chaos. His focus remains pure immersed in the creative process, he revels in the act of making and childhood dreams
Kim’s artwork innocent and childlike yet deeply anchored in the radical, creative Oribe tradition invites us to rediscover our sense of wonder and honest living. In his ceramics, his cooking, and even his commissioned shirts, I find reflections of myself. His creations are not just objects; they are invitations to dream, to feel liberated, to embrace our inner child They encourage us to live honestly, simply, and joyfully
I have been drawn to Kim’s work for years, and each return deepens my appreciation. Kim speaks not just through his artistic outputs but through the very essence of his lifestyle. Thank you, Kim, for continually allowing me to discover pieces of myself in your work. I eagerly anticipate continuing our collaboration, exploring further, and embracing the life lessons woven into your art
As Emily Dickinson so aptly expressed, “Wonder is not precisely knowing and not precisely not knowing.” In the enigmatic beauty of Kim Hono’s work, we find boundless possibilities to explore the unknown.
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Portrait of Kim Hono, 2023
