Sea Butterfly

Description

Kishi Eiko 岸映子
Japan, born 1948
Sea Butterfly
Reiwa era (2019–present)
2022
Stoneware with colored-chamotte inlays
Museum purchase made possible by
Joseph and Nancy Keithley, 2024/1.353

Kishi Eiko creates architectural forms combining
clay slabs. The small particles seen on the surface
here are made through an inlay technique of
her own invention named saiseki zōgan (meaning
“colored-stone inlay”). Kishi kneads together
various colored clays and creates geometric forms
that reveal the colors when cut. While the body is
still wet, she incises the surface with knives and
needles, making thousands of small holes. She
then fills the incisions with colored slip and sprays
on a thin transparent glaze before firing. Through
this painstaking and time-consuming process, she
creates works that seem to be shining from within.
A native of Japan’s old capital, Kyoto, Kishi was
inspired by the glittering patterns of woven brocade
produced in its Nishijin district. Her colorful,
geometric constructions also evoke the Japanese
traditional dance performance Noh, in which actors
wear costumes made of stiff, shimmering brocade.

(Japanese Gallery Rotation, Summer 2025)