I had never encountered Tomoko Abe’s work until Tomoko Abe’s Weathering Scape by Leigh Taylor Mickelson, in Ceramics Art and Perception, Issue 92, August 2013.  Her use of clay and the environment to create seemingly ephemeral, yet intimately resounding work is a testament to clay’s permanency and fragility.  Using porcelain casting slip, gauze, egg cartons, tennis balls, paper, and photosensitive ink, Abe has created pieces that record the effects of her work practices, as well as the imprint of the world around us, even impressions of rain drops in some of her slab pieces.  There is a sense of tenderness attached to these works that belies the fact of their permanence.  Abe notes, “In these pieces there is the same tension, healing power and forgiveness that this earth offers to us.”

Photo courtesy tomokoabe . com