Shimizu Yoshiyuki 清水善行 (*1966)

An irregular cylindrical, faceted Shigaraki vase with a flat base. The massive vase looks like a rock borrowed from nature. The vivid natural ash glaze with melted dark green glaze drops and the brittle, cracked vase opening enhance the effect of an overgrown stone. The variation in the ash glaze is a testament to the ceramist's mastery of the kiln atmosphere.

Traces of shells on the side of the vase indicate that the vase was fired on its side (korogashi). Such pieces usually occupy the best places in the kiln, close to the fire, where the strongest influences prevail and thus the most outstanding glaze effects can be achieved. Since the space in these places in the kiln is very limited and some pieces do not survive the firing intact, these pieces are correspondingly rare and are among the masterpieces in a ceramist's oeuvre.

Born in 1966 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Yoshiyuki Shimizu graduated from Otani University in 1990 with a degree in philosophy. The following year, he completed his studies at the Kyoto Prefectural Ceramics Technical Institute and began training at the Kuromuta-yaki Maruta Masami kiln. In 1994, Shimizu went out on his own and built his own kiln in the Dosenbo district of Minami-Yamashiro Village, Kyoto Prefecture. He initially produced shigaraki and kohiki pottery. In 1999, he began producing white porcelain, followed by Sue pottery in 2001 and iron glazed pottery in 2002.

His work continued to evolve with the introduction of asbolite in 2003 and stoneware in 2004. In 2008, he built an anagama, an underground hole kiln, and in 2011, he began producing ash-glazed pottery. Most recently, in 2021, he built a split bamboo type noborigama, a traditional climbing kiln.

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