This work was produced in a climbing kiln, fired in a place called himae (“in front of the fire”) inside the kiln. This is the area in the kiln where a work can be fired at high temperatures because it is directly exposed to the burning flame. Climbing kilns are operated as communal kilns, with each member renting units of a given size (180 x 35 x 50 cm), using only as much as they needed for the occasion. In addition to tableware for everyday use and ceramic crafts, industrial goods and ceramics for scientific or technological use were fired in the climbing kilns that dotted the city of Kyoto at the time, and the craftsmen lived alongside each other, supporting their livelihood.

What was fired in the himae usually depended on the changing tastes of the time. Miyanaga said, “As far as I remember, it was used for firing bottle lids, then for insulators, and eventually when I made this work in the 1960s, it was mostly used for making tiles.” However, the community that had formed around the climbing kilns gradually became obsolete in the late 1960s, and the interaction among ceramic professionals that had existed there disappeared. This was also one of the reasons why around that time many ceramic artists in Kyoto were actively seeking to develop new modes of expressing themselves.

The sculptor Tsuji Shindo, whom Miyanaga had studied under, was the first artist to create works using the himae. While Miyanaga admits that Tsuji had a great influence on him, he also asserts that Wall Acquired was not made to conform to Tsuji’s style, but he rather thought it similar to the movements of Art Informel and a ceramic interpretation of Abstract Expressionism, both currents that were vibrant at the time. For works fired at high temperatures in the himae it is difficult to determine when the firing is complete, but for Miyanaga this was one of the attractive aspects of the process. Wall Acquired is a work that could not be done in a different time, as it embodies a certain combination of the Kyoto zeitgeist of the 1960s and Miyanaga’s unique individuality.

When Miyanaga was living in New York in 1960, he stayed in a room at the Poindexter Gallery in Manhattan. At that time, the owner of the gallery, Mr. Poindexter, told him, “If you want to be an artist in New York, you should build your work like a spiral staircase.” What Poindexter meant was to create one’s path around a core of solid convictions and never cease to aim for new challenges; to not just walk straight in either this or that direction, for instance trying abstract today, and figurative tomorrow, but to gradually expand one’s perimeter while remaining true to one’s point of origin. Miyanaga often thinks about this phrase even to the present day. After a period of being influenced by Abstract Expressionism, when the present work was made, Miyanaga gradually shifted to more geometric forms, which led to a series of objects made with the help of models of folded cardboard, and eventually to his blue-and-white porcelain. Miyanaga repeatedly tried out new techniques to realize his ideas, which in turn led to new inspiration that shaped his ever-evolving style.

Miyanaga Rikichi (ceramist; b. 1935)
Ceramist from Kyoto. Miyanaga graduated from the Sculpture Department of Kyoto City University of Arts. He studied with Tsuji Shindo, Horiuchi Masakazu, and Yagi Kazuo. In 1959, Miyanaga traveled to the United States and enrolled at the Art Students League. After his return to Japan, he joined the ceramics art group Sodeisha. He counts among Japan’s eminent ceramists.