I Want People to Feel Happy When They Hold One of My Works ～ Interview with Mabi Potter Arika Hara

What comes to mind when you hear “pottery”?

Some people may think it seems a little intimidating.

Arika Hara, who has a studio in Mabi, Kurashiki City, creates pottery featuring lively animal motifs.

We visited Hara’s studio to watch the pottery-making process and hear how she came to pursue pottery.

From chopstick rests shaped like adorable animals such as deer, ducks, and nutria to plates decorated with animals, why not discover the appeal of pottery created by Hara, a young artist?

The information presented here was accurate when this article was published in May 2020. Please note that it may differ from current information.

About pottery

Pottery is the craft of making ceramics and other fired wares by shaping clay and firing it at high temperatures, which heats and hardens it.

There are various ways to shape and fire pottery.

These include “hand-building,” shaping clay by hand and with tools, and using a “potter’s wheel,” where clay is placed on a rotating platform and shaped as it spins.

There are also two firing methods: “oxidation firing,” in which pieces are fired in a kiln with enough oxygen for complete combustion, and “reduction firing,” in which they are fired in a kiln with incomplete combustion.

Oxidation firing is characterized by the iron in the clay oxidizing, which tends to produce warm colors.

Reduction firing can turn the clay blue, or cause the metal components in it to undergo various chemical reactions, subtly changing its color.

Potter Arika Hara, whose studio is at her family home in Mabi

Arika Hara was born in Tokyo in 1987 and moved to Mabi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, where her father’s family lived, when she was in elementary school.

After graduating from the pottery course at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts vocational school, she worked for an apparel company for about five years. She then decided to pursue pottery because she “wanted to make a living doing what she loved.”

After setting up a studio at her family home in Mabi and installing a kiln in 2016, she spent her days teaching at a pottery class in Okayama City and her nights immersed in creating work for a solo exhibition at her Mabi studio.

However, in the summer of 2018, just before her solo exhibition, the studio was flooded in the July 2018 Heavy Rain in Western Japan.

The water reached the first-floor ceiling, flooding the kiln and tools, as well as all the work she had made up to that point.

She says she considered taking a different path, but with help and encouragement from friends, she began rebuilding the studio about six months later.

In February 2020, she held “Arika Hara Pottery Exhibition: We’re All Alive. Because We’re Alive, We Keep Moving Forward” at cafe Z in Minami Ward, Okayama City.

Hara showed us the pottery-making process she follows, which we’ll introduce here.

The pottery-making process

Kneading the clay

First, she starts by kneading the clay.

The clay used in pottery is broadly divided into white clay and red clay.

“I love the time I spend touching the clay,” Hara says with a smile.

She kneads the clay using the “菊練り” technique to remove all the air from it.

Shaping

Next, she shapes the clay using an electric potter’s wheel.

She wets her hands and gradually shapes the clay as she moistens it.

I was so captivated by the sight of a beautiful vessel taking shape that I forgot I was there to report on it.

And here is the vessel after shaping.

She shaped this vessel in about 30 seconds using an electric potter’s wheel.

Drying

The clay is dried for one to two days, until it is firm enough to trim.

The drying time also varies depending on the temperature, humidity, and shape.

Next, the foot—the part of the vessel that touches the table when it is set down—is trimmed, and the piece is dried for about another week to remove all the moisture.

Bisque firing

Clay that has only been dried will turn back into clay if it is put in water.

Firing it in an electric kiln at about 780 degrees hardens it so that it will not turn back into clay when put in water.

Painting

She paints pictures and patterns on the bisque-fired vessel using bengara and other materials.

Applying glaze

Pottery has a smooth, glass-like surface, doesn’t it?

That’s because it has been glazed.

Glaze brings out the beauty of a piece by adding color and shine, and makes the pottery durable and resistant to water.

Glaze is made by mixing ash from burned plants and minerals such as feldspar, ground into powder, with water.

Final firing

The pieces are fired in an electric kiln for one day at about 1,230 degrees.

This electric kiln was damaged in the July 2018 torrential rains, but it was repaired and put back into use.

After the final firing, the pieces become so hard and dense that they are incomparable to their bisque-fired state.

Depending on the shape, it takes about one month to complete a piece.

After all the lengthy steps, the moment I take the fired pieces out of the kiln is the most nerve-racking: “I wonder how they turned out?”

I think the joy is all the greater because each piece is made from scratch and takes so much time.

Next, we asked Harazai Ka about how she became a ceramic artist and about her dedication and feelings toward her work.

Interview with Mabi ceramic artist Harazai Ka

What inspired you to start making things and doing pottery?

When did you start making things, Harazai?

Harazai

My mother taught art classes, so I was making things from a young age.

I liked drawing and making crafts with things around me, like mandarin orange peels.

When did you start doing pottery?

Harazai

I went to a high school with an art and crafts program, where I studied sculpture.

Sculpture involves building up clay, then adding to it, taking it away, and stretching it to create a form.

That was when I realized that I was better suited to making things with my hands than drawing.

After that, I went to Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts vocational school, where I studied pottery for the first time.

So I really started doing pottery after enrolling in vocational school.

The appeal of making things

What do you think is good and appealing about making things?

Harazai

The great thing about making things is that you can express your own world regardless of your age.

Anyone can express themselves without barriers, from little children to adults, and people who can speak as well as those who cannot.

How you came to pursue pottery

What did you do after graduating from vocational school?

Harazai

After graduating, I got a job at an apparel company, which had nothing to do with pottery.

But I kept doing pottery during that time, too.

I worked at the company for about five years, but my desire to “do what I want to do. I want to make things” grew stronger, and I quit when I was 25.

Now I work as an instructor at a pottery class in Okayama City during the day, then come to my studio in Mabi in the evening to work on my own pieces.

Meeting a good teacher who taught me that “the important thing is to keep going” made a big difference.

I was determined to make pottery my own, and it was the one thing I kept doing even after taking a job in another field.

I took a different job while thinking that I wanted to make pottery my career someday, and there was also a period when I didn't do pottery.

But my hands still remembered.

I took the plunge and quit when I was 25, turned the first floor of my home into a studio, and bought a kiln.

Actually, this studio is a room that I inherited from my late grandfather, who used it.

What matters to you in your work

Your lovely work features cute animals. Could you tell us what matters to you in your work?

Harazai

We always had animals like dogs and cats at home, so I've loved animals for a long time.

The animals I depict in my work are all ones I'm interested in at the time.

When I first put my ideas down on paper, deer felt like the best fit.

Deer are said to bring good luck, so they're a particular favorite of mine.

I also like nutria. I often see a parent and its young from my car on my commute.

Their tails are a little creepy, but their bottoms stick out in a cute, rounded way, so I make them into pieces.

I create my work with a focus on preserving the warm texture of the clay.

From the disaster to holding the solo exhibition you had hoped for

Could you tell us how you felt after your studio was damaged in the July 2018 torrential rains, and before you were able to hold another solo exhibition?<

Harazai

I had originally planned to hold a solo exhibition at “cafe Z” in August 2018.

The disaster struck about a month before the exhibition, and the water reached the ceiling of my studio.

I was the only one who could sort out what could and couldn't be used in the studio, so I spent about two months cleaning it up by myself.

The electric kiln was repaired and returned around December that year.

After that, it took about six months to do test firings and properly get back to work.

There were people who encouraged me, saying, “I'll come to your next exhibition,” and that made me think again, “I can't just give up; I have to keep going.”

After the disaster, I felt that I was able to create with less tension, in a good way, and that my style began to change.

Perhaps my work began to reflect my determination to focus on doing my best in the present.

At solo exhibitions, I can see and talk with visitors in person, so I was happy to get their reactions directly.

I hope that people will simply feel happy when they hold my work.