Wabi Sabi Art Pouring Gold Into Cracks Of Ceramics

Shimode points out that the importance in kintsugi is not the physical appearance it is the beauty and the importance that stays in the one who is looking at the dish.

Wabi sabi art pouring gold into cracks of ceramics. In japanese philosophy there exists the idea of wabi sabi the act of embracing the flawed or the imperfect. The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art. Wabi sabi and traditional japanese tea ceremonies. The imperfection is not hidden but highlighted.

When wabi sabi zen and mono no aware come together. Kintsugi is a centuries old japanese art of repairing broken pottery and transforming it into a new work of art with gold the traditional metal used in kintsugi. As a philosophy it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object rather than something. Instead of throwing away the broken pieces of a shattered jar or vase the pieces are mended back together with gold lacquer.

They produce this theory of impermanence this beautiful celebration of imperfection known as the art of kintsugi. Kintsugi 金継ぎ golden joinery also known as kintsukuroi 金繕い golden repair is the japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold silver or platinum a method similar to the maki e technique. The gold filled cracks of a once broken item are a testament to its history. In 1199 a monk known as eisai returned to japan from china with plans to create japan s first zen buddhist temple.

Kintsugi is the japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections you can create an even stronger more. He brought with him bags of green tea seeds introducing the earliest style of tea preparation called tencha in which powdered matcha is combined with hot water in a bowl and whipped together. This is the most common kintsugi technique and it culminates in the shimmering veins that have come to define the art form. While in each case gold silver or platinum dusted epoxy is used to fix the broken pottery the techniques and finished results vary.

The translation from japanese of kintsugi or kintsukuroi means golden joinery or repair with gold where the gold powder is applied on lacquer some refer to it as kintsugi art with a metaphor of kintsugi life re birth or wabi sabi philosophy this technique transforms broken ceramic or pottery into beautiful. The name of the technique is derived from the words kin golden and tsugi joinery which translate to mean golden repair. An example of wabi sabi in creativity is the art of kintsugi where cracked pottery is filled with gold dusted lacquer as a way to highlight the beauty of its age and damage rather than hiding it. Kin literally translates into golden while tsugi means joinery.

Did you catch that. Together the phrase literally means to be joined with gold. Wabi sabi draws attention to the cracks in a tea cup as part of the beauty of the object.