How “imperfect” pearls inspired ceramic artist Kansai Noguchi to create the broken vases that made his name

His irregular shapes actively bridge intentional creation and organic chance. He reflects on the kiln process. He says, “Breakage is not intentional; it happens typically during firing. It’s kind of like nature’s doing, whereas the reparation is what I do artificially.”

A prime example on display is Apollo Yakishime, a vessel that resembles a heart but is actually abstractly modelled after the torso of the steed of the sun god Apollo from Greek mythology. Moulding such asymmetrical, fluid shapes presents a mental hurdle. Noguchi says that while making tidy, symmetrical vessels is technically more demanding, “mentally speaking, it’s easier because I have a clear goal; there’s only one result I aim to achieve.” With irregular pieces, however, he steps into the unknown without knowing where the form will lead.

Another notable piece on the top floor of the exhibition showcases the technique of kasugai, which are U-shaped metal fasteners historically used across Japan and ancient China to join timber or restore ceramic pieces. Noguchi applied the metal staplers over deliberate fractures alongside Urushi tree sap lacquer for purely aesthetic expression, leaving behind gaps and cracks that look like open wounds neatly sealed together. Although the vase doesn’t feature perfect symmetry, the mended cracks and intricate stitches create a kind of vulnerability and delicateness, serving as a reminder that “nothing is a waste in life in general” and “there is value in imperfection”, in the artist’s words.

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This zero-waste ethos extends beyond clay to traditional medium sourcing. Noguchi incorporates natural gelatin glue derived from culled wild deer in Japan—animals that are routinely overpopulated and discarded aside from their meat. He blends this animal glue with dark soot collected directly from the chimneys of his ceramic kilns to make his own traditional ink, which he uses across his calligraphy and ceramic panels.

Noguchi’s path to becoming a sculptor was far from conventional. Until the age of 30, he worked as a successful professional R&B musician signed to a major record label in Japan. Burning out from the high-pressure demand of writing up to ten songs a week, he travelled to the US—the very birthplace of R&B music—to test his craft at the root of the genre.

While in the US, he encountered the work of celebrated Japanese-American designer and artist Isamu Noguchi (no relation) through a few friends who were interested in art. He was deeply mesmerised by how Isamu Noguchi, known for blending traditional Japanese craft with western abstraction, seamlessly combined elements from diverse cultures, epochs and disciplines across the world into a unified artistic vision. Inspired by how Japanese artists were leaving a significant mark on the global art stage, Noguchi, 10 years ago, decided to close his musical chapter and take on a more calming practice: ceramics making. Returning to Japan, he learnt sculpture and ceramics from sculptor Takuya Yoshida and ceramicist Ikuko Hiyoshi. Over the years, he also started practising calligraphy.

Though he traded recording rooms for ceramic kilns and painting studios, music continues to infuse Noguchi’s visual artistic practice deeply. He feels a distinct rhythmic flow when painting and creating calligraphy, often listening to music that directly informs the emotion on the page. One calligraphy piece in the exhibition, featuring the Japanese characters “言ばのい図”, which means “the intent of words”, takes its title from “言葉の意図”, a song with a similar concept by Japanese hip-hop/rock group Tick—a band he was listening to during its creation. Noguchi is drawn to the concept of the “intent of words” because it leaves crucial room for viewers to interpret what is beyond the literal meaning of words, treating visual art much like a song where the audience completes the melody.

This continuous creative evolution is anchored in the exhibition by a monumental seven-metre-long calligraphy piece titled Hi・Fu・Mi・Yo (representing the Japanese characters “one, two, three and four”). Using massive brushes and heavy soot ink, the sweeping scroll features repeating circular motifs that intentionally vary in size, alignment and thickness, as if they were footprints of a growing individual.

The piece, a new work for the Hong Kong exhibition, represents his steps in life and his eagerness to embrace challenges. Serving as a testament to his frontier spirit, the monumental scroll stands as a personal promise to keep pushing boundaries, proving that in art and life, form truly follows the ability to see beauty in “failure”, “unconventionality” and “imperfection”.

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