Vase

The master Japanese potter Morino Hiroaki is renowned internationally for his ability to create consistently elegant and bold forms that can stand alone as aesthetic objects or work as functional vessels. Following his classical ceramic training in Japan with master potters and National Treasures—Kenkichi Tomimoto and Yoshimichi Fujimoto chief among them—Morino resided twice (in 1962–63 and in 1966–68) as Visiting Instructor of Ceramics at the University of Chicago. This vase was made in Chicago during that residency.

The potter is especially regarded by collectors for his ability to perfectly align surface decoration with the form of each vessel. This vase exemplifies the artist's ultimate pursuit to embody in his works the Japanese concept of ma, which simultaneously encapsulates aspects of space, tempo, and rhythm. One experiences this aesthetic here in the free-flowing, hand-painted patterns that seem to dance across the undulating surfaces of the vase's curved shape. The artist hopes that viewers read between the painted lines, shapes, and dots that playfully stretch across the surface as one would read a piece of literature or poetry, and therefore come to better understand his work and its connection to ma.