Kernos Garden
Akane Saijo
Media: Ceramic, Stainless steel
In Tsuneishi, a seaside town with a mild climate, various fruit-bearing trees are planted. They say that in ancient Greece, people would make offerings of fruits, flowers, and seeds in a pottery vessel called a kernos—which contained connected pots—to pray for a bountiful harvest. I created this work to pray for the healthy growth of local fruits, as well as all plants and living things in this area, and with the aim of creating a space like a plaza where both adults and children can gather. The 12 holes on the surface of the vessel are all connected to the large cavity at the center. Please try making your voices resonate together with someone else’s, and listen to each other’s voices.
アートのひみつ！
This massive ceramic artwork weighs 700 kg. There’s a reason why it is this big. Your voice echoes inside it. You can sit on the stone walls with others. You can feel different fruit trees in different seasons. Let’s gather in this space that’s like a plaza.
アーティスト紹介
Akane Saijo
Akane Saijo is based in Kyoto. She creates large ceramic sculptures by shaping clay and firing it in a high-temperature kiln. She also creates performing artworks as well as video works using these sculptures.
Ceramic is a medium familiar to us, since we use ceramic tea bowls, cups, and many other ceramic items in our everyday life. Like these everyday objects, Saijo’s works are designed not just to be viewed but to be engaged with—by touching them with your hands and experiencing them with your body.
Additionally, Saijo’s works feature large hollow cavities, allowing people to breathe into them or pitch their voices. By letting voices and breath resonate within these cavities, the works function like musical instruments. This creates moments where people connect with the artwork and with one another through the artwork.
In addition to Kyoto, Saijo visits pottery studios around the world, creating works inspired by local legends and history.
Saijo’s representative work
「Orchard」
Created in 2022
Media: ceramic, chain
Size: W82×D82×H130
In the collection of the Mori Art Museum
制作風景
The work was created by assembling different pieces. Each piece was fired in a massive kiln. The studio is located in Shigaraki, one of Japan’s oldest pottery towns in Shiga Prefecture.
