Jason Wason & Yasuo Terada’s Playing with Fire III at Withiel

← latest news | posted September 28, 2017

Jason Wason and Yasuo Terada first met in Nagoya in 2000 and an immediate bond was formed. Both were potters, of a similar age, similar attitudes, but producing very different work, from very different backgrounds.

Yasuo invited Jason to go work with him at his studio in Seto, which is Japan’s oldest centre of continuous ceramic history. For 1300 years the chimneys of Seto’s numerous kilns have been alive. Setomono is the Japanese word for pottery, literally “things that come from Seto”. Yasuo Terada is a fourth generation artist potter, working in the Oribe style, and as Jason says, ‘Yasuo is the real deal’.

Between them, they have exhibited and worked together on many occasions showing in galleries in London and Nagoya, and in various collaborations, such as Ceramica International sponsored by Tate Gallery, St. Ives, Newlyn Orion Gallery, and Truro Museum. Together they have built a coal-fired kiln at the Leach Pottery, similar to the raku kiln that Bernard Leach first encountered in Japan in 1918. They have shown at the Kusakabe Folk Museum, Gifu Prefecture, and at the Bizen Gallery, Seto Shi, Aichi Prefecture. In 2005, South West Arts and the Sasakawa Foundation Japan funded Jason Wason to go and work for three months alongside Yasuo Terada at the Seihoji Ancient Kiln Park, as part of the EXPO international festival of Japan.

Yasuo Terada is back in the UK for another collaboration with Jason Wason. They are LSG’s first artists in residence at Withiel and this collaboration has once again united their spirits. Terada has brought his kiln building expertise to Withiel and together they have built a kiln and developed a site-specific body of work for this exhibition. Their love of clay and exploration of fire is contagious. New innovative boundaries have been set at Withiel.

Join us at the opening of Playing with Fire III on Sunday 8th October (2pm – 4pm) for drinks in the collectors lounge and a special walk and talk with the artists, Jason and Yasuo. RSVP is essential. Contact the gallery for more details on 01872 275757 or email [email protected].

Alternatively, the exhibition continues by appointment until the end of October. Once again, contact the gallery for more information or to arrange a viewing.