May 20 to June 22, 2025 / The personal exhibition

The Universe of Colored Terracotta

the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Saga Prefecture

/ Otsu-3100-1 Toshaku, Arita, Nishimatsuura District, Saga Giappone

Exhibition catalogues /

Introduzione : Suzuta Yukio , Critical essays : Paolo Campiglio

Exhibition Organizer / Tomosige Tosifumi

Post-Exhibition Report:

From May 20 to June 22, 2024, the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Saga Prefecture hosted The Universe of Polychrome Terracotta, a solo exhibition by Kazumasa Mizokami.

The venue was filled with three-dimensional works in polychrome terracotta. Inspired by motifs such as flowers and human figures, the works combined vivid colors with abstraction, forming a unique world where Eastern spirituality and Western formal thought converge. Italian critic Paolo Campiglio described the exhibition as “a ceremonial continuum of time in which the past and present are interwoven,” and praised the signature work Twelve Days in a Year as “a form like a prayer for living each day.”

Mizokami’s works are not only visually striking but also deeply engage with human inner life, memory, and our connection to nature. In his flower-themed pieces, seemingly similar yet individually distinct forms stand in sequence, quietly narrating moments of life. In the Blue Man series, the figures evoke the solitude, dreams, and essence of creativity in contemporary life.

In an age where modern society has distanced itself from nature and materials, Mizokami uses clay—a primal medium—to awaken a sensibility that could be called a “prayer through touch,” something we are on the verge of forgetting. True to the exhibition’s title, the venue became a veritable “universe of polychrome terracotta,” offering visitors both quiet wonder and profound resonance.

日本語 / 展覧会「彩色テラコッタの宇宙」終了のご報告

展覧会「彩色テラコッタの宇宙」終了のご報告

2024年5月20日から6月22日まで、佐賀県立九州陶磁文化館にて、溝上和政の個展「彩色テラコッタの宇宙」が開催されました。本展は、新聞やテレビでも取り上げられ、多くの来場者を迎えることができました。ご来場くださった皆さまに、心より感謝申し上げます。

会場には、溝上が長年ミラノの古い窯を改造したアトリエで制作してきた、彩色テラコッタによる立体作品が並びました。花や人物をモチーフにした作品群は、鮮やかな色彩と抽象性を併せ持ち、東洋の精神性と西洋の造形思考が融合した独自の世界を形づくっていました。イタリアの評論家パオロ・カンピーリオ氏は、本展について「過去と現在が織りなす儀式的な時間の連なり」であると評価し、特に代表作《一年十二日》について「毎日を生きる祈りのような造形」と称しました。和政の作品は、ただ視覚的に美しいだけでなく、人の内面や記憶、自然とのつながりに深く触れるものです。花をモチーフにした作品では、同じようでいて一つひとつ異なる形が連なり、まるで人生の一場面を静かに物語るかのようです。人物像「青い男」シリーズでは、現代における孤独や夢、創造の本質が静かに浮かび上がります。現代社会が自然や素材との距離を深めるなかで、溝上は土という根源的な素材を通して、私たちが忘れかけた「触れる祈り」ともいえる感性を呼び起こします。展覧会のタイトル通り、会場はまさに“彩色テラコッタの宇宙”となり、訪れる人々に静かな驚きと深い共感をもたらしました。

今後も国内外での発表を予定しております。引き続きご注目いただければ幸いです。

Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 1 A round blue globe on the left with a blue image in the center
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 2　The 12 calendars are small terracotta plates decorated with small flower-like shapes, and are decorated with brightly colored designs in 12 different designs arranged in three columns and four rows.
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 3
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 4
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 5　Nine small blue figures are lined up on a white wall, with small red flowers between them.
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 6　On the back wall are many sketches on paper.
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 7　There is a tea room set up inside the museum, and at the back, a yellow figure of lovers is floating above a blue canvas.
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 9 The red egg-shaped surface is engraved with many large rose-like shapes, giving it a gorgeous impression.
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 10　It looks like a blue head, but from its mouth comes a white, waist-like tree. It's very mysterious.
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 11 A view of the beginning of the tea room at the back of the venue
Kazumasa Mizokami Exhibition scene 12 Looking at the whole exhibition from the tea room, the blue seated statue in the center is particularly striking.