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Volume 12
Number 8

March 25, 2011

Ceramics Artist Inspires Students

About 60 Northwest Vista students got the chance on March 23 to listen to a well-known ceramics artist originally from Japan.

Kensuke Yamada is currently in a fellowship program with the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana, which is arguably the most famous and competitive ceramic artist and resident program in the United States. His artwork is currently on the cover of “Ceramics Monthly.”

Kensuke moved to the United States from Japan about 10 years ago as a foreign exchange student at Evergreen State College in Washington. Kensuke’s story in the United States begins with limited knowledge of English, so his primary communication with other people was through gestures and facial expressions. He said his art pieces blend humor and nostalgia with Japanese and American ideals. 

Kensuke began his talk with the NVC ceramics students by introducing an exercise he often does in the studio before undertaking a new sculpture. He had the students close their eyes for five minutes and let their hands just create whatever they wanted.

Kensuke then showed the students a slide presentation and talked about an online auction that is taking place on ebay.com and etsy.com and several other sites called “Handmade in Japan.” Kensuke along with a few other Japanese artists are donating artwork for the online auctions. The money raised will benefit Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. His family resides about 200 miles from the nuclear disaster and has been without power for two weeks. 

After the presentation, NVC ceramics instructor Paul Northway asked Kensuke what advice he would give to potential art majors.

“It is going to be hard if you choose to work in art,” Kensuke said. “I have no health insurance, and sometimes I am not selling as much as I would like. A couple of years ago I dislocated several fingers in a studio accident. I have to work, so I drank a bottle of gin and had a friend reset them. If you choose to make art your career, then you must accept the lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with working hard. This is honorable.”

NVC ceramic student Aziz Abdulmalik described Kensuke’s lecture and demonstration as, “Really interesting. He is modest, but also very funny. His work is fascinating.”