Kan Suzuki　鈴木環

Kan's workshop is located on the low hillside between the lush mountains of Ibaraki. Behind the charming house with a gable roof is an extensive backyard, where he is rearing a goat named Apollo. He uses a wood stove in the winter, grows olive trees in the yard, and eats walnuts picked from the trees in the mountains. His way of living in nature seems very much like a fairy tale world from the urban people.

Kan has been creating wares using Kohiki for more than 30 years since he learned pottery at Bunka Gakuin. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of his wares is its "whiteness." The color white actually comes in a wide range of shade; some are bluish-white, and some are unbleached yarn like white. The white Kan creates has got a slippery texture and looks polished as if it were enamel. The contrast with the body made of black dirt is beautiful, and it also has a sense of dignified transparency. He says that he uses engobe that is made in France. Before he found that, he has tried many materials from Uzbekistan, Korea and many from all over the world, but he's been settled with this France Kaolin for two years, saying that it is the best whiteness so far. Knowing that, it is strange that it looks like the white from France with no doubt. Kan says that the soil color really becomes of where it comes from.

Kan's representative work, free cups, are called the Pigeon series. Holding the cup with both hands makes you look like you are holding a white pigeon. By seeing this, a supplier's owner named the series. Kan with a chuckle says, "With or without knowing it, the customers who buy these cups say, ‘I will take this baby home. ’" Because each cup is handmade through the whole process by Kan, the bulge at the center and the way the engobe is coated are all unique. This resembles the idea of picking the ONE from a flock and perhaps overlaps with the customers' feeling.

He says, "There is no concept or story. I express myself under the conditions required." But the cuisine lying on his wares must be happy as he ingenuously talks about how much fun it is to seek for the perfect white and figure. Wares filled with happiness are created by an artist filled with happiness. This is why renowned chefs and culinary experts appreciate his wares.