Kiln Song

"Kiln Song" presents the viewer with a mystery: how did the crack at its base happen, and how did the artist respond?

Toshiko Takaezu was a highly accomplished potter, yet making works like "Kiln Song" pushed the limits of her craft at every stage. It is an example of her signature form, a spherical or oblong vessel with a tiny opening that served as a three-dimensional canvas for her expressive, painterly glazes.

By nearly closing her pots, Takaezu increased the inherent risks of kiln firing. When a clay vessel is heated in a kiln, the air inside it expands, so an opening is necessary for the air to escape. If moisture remains in the clay, steam can build up and cause the vessel to crack or even explode.

Although Takaezu compensated for this risk on larger pieces by including a second small hole near the base, cracks could still occur.

Even building a piece this size was a battle with gravity. Takaezu worked in stages, either throwing the base on a wheel or hand-building it, then adding clay while standing on a scaffold as the piece got taller.

Visible ridges show where she added on sections. "Kiln Song" weighs 175 pounds and would have been even heavier when the wet clay was drying. Did it crack then, with Takaezu choosing to fire it despite this?

Takaezu once said, "The kiln changes things, it opens the cracks; that expresses itself in the firing." The title "Kiln Song" reflects this view of the clay and kiln as living forces.