Eiji Uematsu
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Eiji Uematsu | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Hyōgo Prefecture, Kobe, Japan |
| Died | 1949 |
| Known for | Sculpture, pottery, installation art |
Eiji Uematsu (b.1949) is a Japanese artist who is known for making earthenware ceramics and installations. Although he works in clay, Uematsu does not identify as a ceramicist. Instead, he considers his artistic practice to be a process where he playfully represents the spatial, environmental, and psychological affordances of clay.[1] He states that “I think of myself as neither a ceramist nor an artist. Rather than expression, I feel more strongly that I want to deal with the clay. And, I hope to share what I see and feel from the clay with many people.”[2]
Uematsu was born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Kobe in 1949. His father worked for a print shop where he did illustrations and typesetting. His older brother Keiji is also an artist.[3]
Eiji's interest in clay piqued during his childhood while he engaged in explorations with mud play and the Japanese art form dorodango, a process he later expanded upon as he developed his distinct style of conceptual ceramics.[1]
Uematsu started his art career in 1972, initially making relief sculptures with clay. He moved to Shigaraki in 1975 to work at a pottery factory. In 1982 Uematsu moved to the city of Iga, where he built his own wood and kerosene fueled kiln and began experimenting with pit-fired pottery, using the noyaki method of controlled burning.[4]
Style
Uematsu's sculpture and installation artworks evoke the physical and conceptual properties of clay. He often creates earthenware sculptures that are heavily textured and unglazed. The forms of his ceramic works are derived from forms in nature and the prehistoric legacy of using clay to make objects.[2]
Uematsu's playful explorations with mud and soil during his youth are evident in artworks such as Clay Flower (2012), which he created by repeatedly throwing lumps of clay slip onto the floor and firing the emerging form.[1]
Uematsu's relationship and command of heat is another key element to his approach. He sees fire as an inspiration and collaborator.[2] In some of his works he uses powdered clay on the surface, and enables the heat of the kiln to leave dramatic cracks in its exterior.[2]