Permission to include the accompanying exhibition catalogue was kindly granted by Julia Twomlow, Director of The Leach Pottery, and by Ashley Howard.
Shima Kara Shima E (From Island to Island) is a touring exhibition of collaborative work by Ashley Howard and Risa Ohgi.
As part of the 2014 St Ives September Festival, the Leach Pottery brings together two contemporary potters for an exhibition of new work which explores the ongoing creative dialogue between East and West, specifically England and Japan, and questions ideas of cultural integrity, identity, influence and the intermingling of both historic and present day cultures.
The joint project began when Ashley Howard became intrigued with the surface patterns of a Risa Ohgi stoneware dish on display at the 2011 International Society for Ceramic Art Education and Exchange exhibition. This prompted a series of conversations that led Howard and Ohgi to embark on series of collaborative works which emerged as Shima Kara Shima E (From Island to Island).
For the works in this exhibition, each took charge of the processes they felt most close to: Howard used the wheel to produce ceramic forms, always keeping in his mind Ohgi's approach to decorative mark making, and then Ohgi took over his work, and using slip trailing as her main technique covered their surfaces with leaf and flower motifs. Working around the theme of tea drinking and its associated utensils, Howard's ceramic forms are loosely inspired by historical industrial designs from Stoke-on-Trent, while Ohgi's surface decorations are informed by Japanese textile patterns.
The exhibition also includes a small selection of Howard and Ohgi's individual work which will better allow visitors to compare collaborative elements.
A one day symposium on 4 December 2014 accompanies the exhibition at UCA Farnham. The symposium features short lectures by makers and writers including Ashley Howard, Dr Bonnie Kemske and Professor Simon Olding.
