Takahiro Kondo

Takahiro Kondo was born into a Kyoto family with a samurai background, which for the last 100 years has made ceramics. Takahiro’s grandfather, Yuzo Kondo, was designated a National Living Treasure for his innovative underglaze cobalt blue porcelain wares. Before turning to a career in ceramics, Takahiro was a champion table tennis player, also representing Japan internationally. The suicide of his ceramicist uncle Yutaka made him re-consider his life and turn to ceramics. His relatively late training on the wheel and subsequent apprenticeship in his father’s studio was followed by international influences from exhibitions and study abroad (Brazil and UK) resulting in original and innovative contributions to ceramics. He is best known for “silver mist”, his original surface finish that recreates water droplets using precious metals.

Water is a recurrent theme throughout Takahiro Kondo’s works. He works mainly in porcelain, in both slab built and wheel thrown forms. He is best known for his “silver mist” surface finish that uses precious metals to create the semblance of water. Since the disaster of earthquake and tsunami of 3/11 he has worked extensively with nerikomi porcelain to recreate the movement and power of waves.

A central concept in Kondo’s work is “water born from fire”. In East Asia, sometsuke, underglaze cobalt blue ware, is closely associated with the image of the blue dragon, the deity of water. Kondo’s re-interpretation of sometsuke, through “silver mist”, his unique surface treatment that uses precious metals to create the semblance of water that looks ‘more real than real water’, brings his family’s heritage together with contemporary art.

Porcelain Virtuosity Exhibition