03/22 En Gallery Presents "From Wabi to Whimsy "
Description
Artist Julie Bagish has been creating ceramics and prints inspired by Japanese culture for over 30 years. “Japan changed my life,” Bagish explains. “I had no idea I was going to be an artist, let alone a potter, until I visited Japan.” She and her husband moved to Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture in 1969 and while he researched at Kanazawa University, Julie studied flower arranging, basket making, calligraphy, and most significantly, ceramics. For 6 years, she studied ceramics under several potters at the Kutani kilns, also located in Ishikawa prefecture.
On their return to the US, Julie began to study the tea ceremony, and over the next 25 years, mainly under the tutelage of the late Madame Sosei Matsumoto of the Urasenke School, her tea practice literally shaped her ceramics. “I learned that when you pick up a tea bowl,” she explains, “it should feel like it’s floating on your hands – not too heavy.” This realization led her to create light, elegant tea bowls – often infused the rustic wabi aesthetic. Her tea wares have been commissioned by tea practitioners in the US and Japan.
Over the years, she has also injected considerable whimsy (Japanese: asobi) into her work – teapots in the shape of cats, lids embellished with frogs and light-hearted poems inscribed or surface of her bowls. Her prints – made using a variety of Eastern and Western techniques – also reflect a Japanese influence in their focus on nature, simplicity and a playful spirit.
The works on display at the Gallery will be available for purchase. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales will support the garden’s educational and cultural programming.
The artist will also be in the gallery with additional tea ceramics for sale as part of the Pasadena Festival of Tea at the garden on Sunday March 31, from 10am to 4pm.
About the En Gallery at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden
In Japanese, the word “en” written with one character (園) can mean garden. Written with a different character (縁), “en” can signify the special, and often mysterious, bond that connects people. It also refers to the verandah – a space that exists between inside and outside. Located in the house looking out on the garden, the gallery will feature exhibitions of art relating to nature, spirituality, wellness and relationships. The exhibitions will spotlight work by artists from all around the world and in a range of diverse styles, and will be curated by Meher McArthur, an Asian art historian and Creative Director of the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden.
The works in the En Gallery are for sale, and part of the proceeds benefit the garden’s educational and cultural programming.