Sawada Hayato

Born 1978, Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

SAWADA HAYATO is a Kasama-based artist, whose ceramics, like those of Wada Morihiro (1947-2007), employ hand-building, slip glazing, inlays and overglaze enamels. He slip-glazes unmasked areas of his faceted or curvilinear vessels, scraping their surfaces. Black clay is inlaid in abstract, linear or geometric patterns, which he calls nama-zōgan (inlay prior to bisque firing). The vessels are then bisque-fired. Once out of the kiln, Sawada further fills the scratched areas with gosu (cobalt blue), red, cream and black glazes and re-fires the ceramics. In some instances, he  also adds a thick, unctuous feldspar glaze.

These explorations with layered glazes and inlays have won Sawada consecutive prizes at both the Japan Kogei Association and the 5th Kikuchi Biennale, as well as finding a permanent home for one artwork at the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, despite his relative youth.