The Volcano Art Center Gallery will host an exhibit of wood-fired anagama ceramics by Clayton Amemiya, opening with a reception for the artist from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, July 26.
The Volcano Art Center Gallery will host an exhibit of wood-fired anagama ceramics by Clayton Amemiya, opening with a reception for the artist from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, July 26.
The exhibit will feature new work fired in Amemiya’s anagama, a Japanese style of wood-fired kiln.
The anagama, or climbing kiln, is a 12-foot-long tunnel, about 4 1/2 feet tall and 4 1/2 feet wide, built on a hillside, with the firebox at the bottom, and exit flue at the top. Hot flames are drawn from the firebox, through the chamber and out the flue.
The speed and intensity of the fire and how each piece is positioned in the kiln determine the final look of each piece. Flame and flying ash affect the clay surfaces, so no two pieces look the same.
Even though it takes four days to tend the fire, the anagama allows Amemiya to get much wider variations in glaze and surface than he could with a gas or electric kiln.
Amemiya was born in Wahiawa on Oahu. He attended Punahou School and received a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Amemiya was introduced to pottery while working at the U.S. Consulate in Okinawa in 1972, when he met Seisho Kuniyoshi, who made Japanese tableware.
This exhibit at the Volcano Art Center runs through Sept. 7. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. The VAC Gallery is located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and park entrance fees apply.
The Volcano Art Center is a nonprofit educational organization created in 1974 to promote, develop and perpetuate the artistic and cultural heritage of Hawaii’s people and environment through activities in the visual, literary and performing arts.