Takako　Araki

BIBLES recount the weathering effects of time
and the echoes of the heart within.
Arai, known in Japan and abroad for her ‘BIBLES’ series, writes that she herself is not religious but embarked on this work because she was interested in taking an objective look at religious faith. “I realized that religion is none other than one’s own heart. And since then …… until now, I have mostly projected my inner self into my work. In other words, through my work, I conduct a process of ‘self-dissection.” (1)
In the BIBLES series, silkscreen is used to print onto pottery, achieving such a high degree of realism that one could mistake the work for the real thing. The ‘Sand Bible’ is made of chamotte (2) and granite from Mount Rokko( 3 )mixed with low-temperature glaze. The ‘Silver Bible’ on the other hand, is made from ceramic clay rolled out paper thin. Both pieses display the flexibility and strength of clay as they quietly speak of the weight of historical time and Araki’s inner, spiritual world.
(1)Works of Self-Dissection’ from Takako Araki. Contemporary Japanese Ceramic Art Volume 14; ‘Caprices in Clay and Fire’. Kodansha 1984.
(2) A material made by firing and grinding down fire-resistant clay
(3) A coarse powder made from fired pieces of weatherd granite from Mount Rokko (Hyogo Prefecture)

57: Silver Bible
58: Melting Bible
59: Bible of the White Sand
60: Bible of Omaha