Retrospective of Tetsuaki Nakao
-An adventure of creativity-
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About the event
Last March 8th,
Ceramic artist Tetsuaki Nakao has embarked on an eternal adventure across the galaxy.
"What do you want to do when you get home?"
"I want to make pottery."
My answer remained the same even the day before I left.
His life was dedicated to pottery, and before that there was his time as a young man aspiring to become a little-known scholar, as well as the numerous pottery pieces that became the foundation of Ginga Yu.
Such an extraordinary life.
We are planning to hold a part of a retrospective of Nakao Tetsuaki's life, including the many works that made him who he is, online.
Nothing would make me happier than having the dream and feelings that Tetsuaki Nakao aimed for lit up in your hearts.
The Life of Tetsuaki Nakao
This video was played at the funeral.
This video, made by his son and daughters, is packed with the life of the man named Tetsuaki Nakao.
1. The Beginning of the Journey as a Budding Scholar
"I wanted to know what was going on in the world."
He was born in 1952 as the son of a kiln master to his father, Masayuki, who ran Gyokumine Touen.
"My grandma always went to apologize."
As Tetsuaki's sister says, when he was little, Tetsuaki was not good at group activities and often got into fights, which caused his mother to apologize to the neighbors. When he was a child, he wanted to be a mechanic who tinkered with airplanes and machines.
He spent his childhood in the 1960s, a time of turmoil around the world, with the civil rights movement and the assassination of President Kennedy in the United States and student protests in Japan.
"I wanted to know what was going on in the world."
Even as a high school student, he spent his days reading philosophy books, but at his school's sports day, he went to the police station, borrowed a police uniform, and led a parody of the student movement.
Here we had one big encounter.
"He was keen to pursue and sharply criticize the contradictions in society. Like a seeker of truth, he sought instruction from researchers at one renowned university after another, but was never satisfied. Finally, he met Professor Iwao Ishizaka of the Keio University Faculty of Commerce and settled in his seminar."
This was written in a eulogy from a friend.
Words of recommendation from my mentor, Professor Ishizaka Iwao.
"Nakao is not simply a ceramic artist. He is a man who pursues the beauty of ceramics, and at the same time, he recognizes human truth in the communal life of society and points out the need to realize it.
For example, in mid-May, a symposium called "Looking at the 21st Century" was held in Takeo, Saga. Nakao was the keynote speaker on the theme of "21st Century Society and Culture." The other keynote speaker, several panelists, and coordinators were all professors from various universities. In other words, they had the insight and knowledge to hold serious discussions with university professors.
Nakao-kun is still young, but he is an avid reader. After he finishes his ceramic work, he reads from late at night until the early hours of the morning. He has read all of Weber's major works, is well versed in the ideas of Marx, and when he opens his mouth he can discuss not only Weber but also Sartre and Hegel, and he can get by without sleep for two nights. However, when he starts a pottery fire, he apparently doesn't sleep for three days."
2. Beginnings as a potter
The unknown pre-Galaxy glaze era
"It wasn't what the academic world had in mind."
He dreamed of becoming a scholar and changing the world, but now, the university he attended was merely a prep school for job seekers. There was nothing there that satisfied his heart. So he returned to his parents' home.
"Seeing my father struggling with the soil"
Thus, he changed his path in life and turned to the world of pottery.
At the time, Gyokuho Touen was making flower vases. According to a craftsman who had worked there for several decades, he had been coming to the factory to work on the potter's wheel since he was in high school.
At first, he learned how to use a potter's wheel from a craftsman, and continued the tradition of making flower vases, making vases in simple colors.
Title: "Saint"
The first work he exhibited at the Nitten Exhibition and was selected for the first time was "White Porcelain." From the era of earthenware to the era of porcelain. This is where his path as an artist began.
Title: "Yutaka"
"Celadon"
He traveled to China many times to try to reproduce glazes that were said to have historical value. He researched every possible glaze, and ceramic artists came to him for advice on glazes.
Title: "Dawn"
"Cinnabar" "Cinnabar"
It is one of the most difficult glazes to produce color in pottery. When I finally succeeded in making it, other potters told me that I could make a living from it. However, I didn't stop there.
"What's the point of making pottery now that was made in China hundreds of years ago?"
What he sought lay beyond this history, in the yet unseen future.
3. Ginga Glaze as a Whole
"If you look at the starry sky, you can't see the borders ."
At the age of 32, he suddenly suffered a retinal detachment.
I was nearly blind for almost a year.
For an artist who pursued beauty, it was a hopeless illness.
"You're finished as a potter."
I was even told that.
In his moment of despair and anxiety, thinking that he might go blind, the image of stars in the night sky illuminating the darkness came to his mind.
"If I can see properly again, I would like to make pottery that resembles the stars in the night sky, to bring a ray of hope and encouragement to those who are suffering in the darkness of despair."
In fact, it was this thought that saved him.
A fellow potter who has known Nakao Tetsuaki since his 20s says they shared a common hobby: cars.
"Nakao told me, 'The modified car is over there,' and led me to a dimly lit warehouse. As I was walking, I heard a crunching sound and wondered if there was gravel around here, but the moment Nakao turned on the light, my spine froze. I realized I was standing on a huge number of test pieces spread out over the entire floor."
This is not just a study of glazes. The custom-made clay, named "Nakao Earthenware," was a canvas suitable for the Ginga glaze that was developed through research with local artist Tsuchiya.
Gyokuhogama has five gas kilns, each of which is used for a different color, and each has been modified to produce galaxy crystals.
And of course, it is imbued with his wishes and feelings for peace, as a man who has studied philosophy and social sciences.
"If you look at the starry sky, you can't see borders."
When he finally found the expression that embodied this desire, Ginga Glaze, it was as if the entire life of Tetsuaki Nakao had crystallized into one. Ginga Glaze was a synthesis.
Title: "Distant Chang'an"
"Akane Galaxy"
The color goes beyond the basic five colors of Galaxy Glaze, and can only be achieved by layering the colors multiple times and putting them in the kiln. During his lifetime, this work was treasured and never let go of, along with "Galaxy Odyssey."
The harmonious blend of various colors and its shape evokes a longing for the peaceful era of Chang'an, an international city of tolerance and a place where all different cultures intermingled during the Tang Dynasty in China.
Title: "Holy Land of the Gods"
In modern times, when values are diversifying and absolute standards of value have been lost, how can we live in the midst of the conflict between different values and the ``struggle of the gods'' ?
The artist expressed his desire for the coexistence of these gods in the desert and rocky scenery that is the birthplace of monotheism, a religion that is different but shares the same roots.
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Title: "Myth for Tomorrow"
"In today's world, where all circumstances are becoming increasingly tense and chaotic, I hope that Ginga Yuu will be a ray of light for the world and its future."
Just as he was once at the brink of despair and was saved by a light shining into the darkness, may this light be a ray of hope for those who are suffering and in difficult times.
His wish-like feelings now continue to shine through his work.
Tetsuaki's father, Masayuki, wrote the following in his notes: When the number of test pieces exceeded 5,000, something that looked like it finally appeared.
"Through decades of research,
When I created a glaze that reminded me of the countless stars that spread across outer space, I named it 'Galaxy Glaze.'"
Finally, the glaze that would become his signature was born.
"Why did you try crystalline glaze?"
"Because it's the hardest."
The words my father said to me still ring in my mind.
Title: "Galaxy Odyssey"
When it comes to such a large piece, it is impossible for one person to even apply the glaze. It was also a memorable piece that I created together with my late father.
Before we got married, my wife Chikako was visiting the factory when this piece was being made. She asked me if I had any advice for her, and I replied, "I think it would be good to make the curves soft, like a straw hat falling from the sky."
"Galactic Odyssey" has now become one of Gingayu's signature pieces, but it was here that a new journey began.
Title: "To My Pagan Friends"
One of his areas of academic research was the sociology of religion.
He had always had an awareness of the problem of how people with different religions, and therefore different values, could avoid conflict. The books of the German sociologist Max Weber had been his companion since his student days.
How can we create a society without domination?
Title: "Oriental 'Nothingness'"
"To bring art and ideas from the East that are on a par with the West"
There was another such theme in his mind.
After exploring the social sciences and philosophy, he sensed that the West was reaching an impasse, but he saw the possibility of a new peace in the spirit of "tolerance" found in the East.
Orient Blue,
His works, which depict the intense colors of summer galaxies that resemble the night sky, have been highly praised overseas.
Work name: "Galaxy"
"A world without weapons and borders"
How can we achieve this dream society of humanity? In the face of this seemingly impossible future, he remained extremely optimistic.
"Don't worry, human history is only four million years old. We have just the beginning."
Compared to the universe, which was born over 10 billion years ago.
It was like seeing human history on a truly astronomical scale.
Title: "Galaxy Odyssey"
"A gentle community of 'love' and 'freedom'"
That was the world that Nakao Tetsuaki dreamed of.
That dream was entrusted to the future of humanity.
Yes, his dream will continue to travel alongside the history of mankind.
4. The story continues
"Let's dream an endless dream together from now on "
"Basking in the morning sun, we resumed working on the potter's wheel!
The morning light is beautiful.
Dad says it comes with strings attached."
This photo was sent to the family LINE on January 12, 2022 , along with a message from his wife, Chikako.
Even while on an oxygen tube, he continued to make pottery. Ceramics was his calling until the very end.
"See if it's straight?"
He was increasingly being asked to do this when attaching handles to coffee cups. His eyes were distorting again.
"By this time, Dad couldn't see very well."
His wife spoke these words as she gazed upon the dough for the coffee cups and saucers that had yet to be baked and were left unfinished. Even in her later years, she literally risked her life to make them.
"It starts with a tea bowl and ends with a tea bowl"
I can't make masterpieces anymore.
Even as his body weakened and he was no longer able to create large pieces, he continued to make tea bowls. This was not a setback for him. He once again discovered the appeal and new possibilities of glazes, creating the Galaxy Glazes in colors never seen before. Many of these colors have yet to be named.
The last coffee cup and saucer.
My father, who never leaves his coffee or book behind, arrived at this shape. The coffee cup and saucer are synonymous with Gingayu.
In June, after the pottery fair ended, what came out of the kiln was a winter galaxy that reminded me of drift ice. I found it interesting, so I fired it up again in the kiln. And that was the last time.
Dreaming of inheriting the galaxy,
A young man came across the sky from Holland.
Sten Vanderlen
At that time, my daughter was still in the Netherlands and my son was still in Tokyo.
A mysterious life of training began for the young man, who could not speak a word of Japanese, along with Tetsuaki and his wife Chikako.
Three days after arriving in Japan,
Before he had even had a chance to train alongside the others at the factory, Nakao Tetsuaki collapsed.
I ended up in a wheelchair.
Still, I continued to entrust and receive.
With a finished pottery in hand, the conversation never stopped, even in the hospital room.
"Surpass your father"
That's how his son, Masatoku, was raised.
Nowadays, he spends his days firing the kiln while attending graduate school.
While he was still in the hospital, I was cleaning up my father's study when I came across a piece of paper. It was an article written by 24-year-old Tetsuaki Nakao for the Keio Project, a university newsletter.
"I was deeply shocked by the content of the lecture. It was exactly the same as the topic I was planning to research in graduate school."
That was the moment I realized we shared the same bloodline.
When I was little, I often went to the factory to help out.
I loved listening to the sounds of the potter's wheel, tapping the pads on which the pottery is placed, and listening to his talk about society and philosophy.
Now, relying on the scenery from that time and the memories of when I used to help out, I struggle with Ginga glaze.
As my body weakened, I foresaw the future and, in my younger years, These masterpieces that he had left unfinished are still standing on the plates at Gyokuminegama.
Until one day, the next generation will be able to perfectly fire Ginga glaze.
What form will it take when it finally sees the light of day?
I'm sure they will be watching over this kiln until that day comes .
"It reminds me of the Nakao family exhibition room, with its beautiful pottery pieces, piles of philosophy books, and comfortable, well-worn chairs. We sat there, bathed in soft light and holding Galaxy glaze coffee cups."
Let's continue this never ending dream together.
to be continued...
5. Now, as countless stars
That light is still somewhere
