Mayuki Kato

In the hands of Mayuki Kato, the time-honored sometsuke style -- frequently referred to as "blue-and-white" ware -- becomes something cutting edge, incorporating bold colors and patterns and unique silhouettes.

Sometsuke, which hinges on the contrast of intricate, deep blue patterns and a stark white background, has long been practiced in and around the city of Seto, Aichi Prefecture, to the point that it has gained official recognition as a traditional Japanese art form. The style first came to the area from China in the early 19th century, and by the end of the century had become a leading export to Europe and the U.S.

Kato's work puts a unique, modern spin on this classic. Uniqueness is, in fact, the point: "I had my doubts about merely carrying on what has always been done. I decided to create new fusions of form and pattern, rather than hold on to old shapes."

Ordinary sometsuke pieces in the Seto style go through two rounds in the kiln. Kato's go through three or four, resulting in rich highs and lows of color and deeper contrast between the blue design and the background. The addition of other colors such as reds and golds turns the traditional white-blue palate into a bold mosaic unlike anything else in the sometsuke canon -- one of Kato's signature styles.

The unique twists the artist puts on the shape of her pieces, meanwhile, make her work stand out at a glance from any other pieces it is placed alongside.

Yet Kato's striking combinations of pattern and form avoid eccentricity for eccentricity's sake. For all their novelty, her works are firmly rooted in Seto's sometsuke tradition, and thoroughly reflect the spirit of that style.

Mayuki Kato was born in Seto in 1981. She is the oldest daughter of Shinya Kato, the third-generation head of the Singama atelier, one of the premier sometsuke workshops in the city.

Seto has a long, illustrious pottery tradition, so much so that its name can stand in for ceramics as a whole in Japanese. Seto-ware, or setoyaki, is one of Japan's six ancient pottery traditions, stretching back 800 years, by some estimates.

The "Ma" in Mayuki’s name is written using the same Chinese character as the "Shin" in "Shinya", which is also the "Sin" in "Singama". The addition of "yuki" marks her father's love for "snow."

Despite her family's pedigree, Kato reports that she never considered taking over the family business when she was young. Throughout middle and high school, she enjoyed studying English, and naturally gravitated toward the foreign. She went on to attend Ritsumeikan University, in Kyoto, and majored in international relations.

After graduation, Kato went to work for a ceramics wholesaler near her hometown -- an experience that brought her into contact with a variety of pottery from across Japan. She was assigned to the corporate planning department, where she was frequently asked for input on sales strategies as one of the few women working at the company.

But despite her family background, Kato had little ceramics knowledge and no experience studying design, leaving her unable to fully answer many of the questions put to her -- a weakness that ultimately became a point of insecurity. After four years at the company, she left to study the essentials of her family's craft. Thus began her two-year tenure at the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center in Gifu Prefecture, a stone's throw from her hometown.

When she first began her studies, Kato says, she had some notion that she would go on to work as a corporate designer or, supposing she returned home, to assist with her family’s work, but never thought she would become an artisan in her own right. Yet on the advice of an acquaintance, she eventually resolved to succeed her father.

Kato's experience in the corporate world and her ceramics training proved a valuable asset to the family business. Almost immediately, the workshop began turning out hit offerings unlike anything else on the market.

Kato now does double duty, heading up the family kiln while also creating innovative works under her own name. At first glance, some of the latter bear little relation to sometsuke. But the tools, materials and techniques used are all the same, she says.

"I want to spread sometsuke around, and introduce everyone to its merits. And of course, I would like to explore the full range of what it has to offer," Kato says.