It all started with Geoff. Initially, it was a collaboration project between me and artist Geoffrey Fisher. We planned to develop a range of objects made of ceramic and wood. 

The inspirations for the project came about, through correspondences between me and Geoff in Autumn 2022, about questioning functionality of an object. Also, his suggestion of making a cup with a hole, resonated with my memory of my hometown of Kochi, in Japan. Such a cup already exists there, a vessel for drinking sake (fermented alcohol made of rice). It is called ‘beku-hai’, which means, a cup one can not put down. Once the sake is poured, you have to finish drinking while closing the hole with a finger. 

While a hole in ‘beku-hai’ is usually placed at the bottom of the cup, and forces one to close the hole with a finger, my cup doesn’t force the act of closing a hole. It merely invite the user to locate and touch a hole, a tactile act, and the cup can be put down in between drinking. I further pursued this concept of beku-hai and made a twirling cup, which reminded me of my mother who was a ballet dancer. 

I developed a wood ash glaze recipe for this project, using the wood ash made from the off cuts of wood from Geoff’s studio where he made his artworks in various wood, including locally sourced coppiced wood from Chiltern hills, where he grew up and resided. Gentle outlines of verdant hills reminded me the landscape of my hometown.