Clayton Amemiya, Biography

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Clayton Amemiya


About Anagama
Tea & Sake

I first met my sensei (teacher), Japanese potter, Seisho Kuniyoshi (1943-1999), in 1972 at his kiln and studio in Yomitan, Okinawa. He made Japanese tableware at the time and the honest, superb and relaxed craftsmanship of his work attracted me. He never gave me hands on instruction, so I learned through observation. This approach to clay is important, I feel, because a potter should develop the techniques with which he/she is comfortable and to prevent mimicking the teacher’s style. Kuniyoshi and I visited museums, antique shops and exhibitions and we spent countless hours discussing pottery and art while referring to his large library of ceramic books. Competent Japanese potters were thoroughly familiar with most Asian Ceramics, traditional and contemporary.

1989 was a significant year for me. Although I felt honored to hold a solo exhibit at Kuroda Toen in Tokyo, my work, viewed in that setting, seemed uninspired. Little of my home, Hawaii, was conveyed. Due perhaps to my total immersion in the Japanese ceramics scene while learning the craft my point of view was too Asian, specifically too Korean and Japanese. My work had become indistinguishable from that produced by some Japanese potters, and this shocked me.

Of course, my pots still display an Asian point of reference. But working solo these past eighteen years has, to me, significantly altered the feelings evoked by my work. In my pots I see various sights of this place; moss covered a’a in the rainforest, the abundant rain of this windward coast, the dryness of the Ka’u district and the recurring patterns on flowing pahoehoe.

In 1986, under the direction of Sensei Kuniyoshi, we built a smell anagama (cave kiln) on my 3 acre parcel in upland Hilo at the 1320’ elevation. I use this kiln to fire 3-4 times a year, usually with my crew of 4 (including myself) doing 6 hour shifts.

Anagama fired pottery depends on chance kiln events -– in particular, the behavior of wood ash circulating at high temperatures causing glaze to form on the clay surfaces in irregular patterns. Although seemingly random, the surface graduations of color are achieved only through deliberate planning and some years of experience. I use Ohia (Metrosideros Polymoropha) as fuel. Salt is introduced naturally to the kiln through clay-filled Opihi (limpet), clam and abalone shells used as stilts and spacers to prevent the pots from fusing to the shelves and each other. Each firing takes between 96 and 110 hours to complete, using over 3 ½ cords of wood. The finished pot displays the interaction between earth (clay), fire and wind (flying wood ash), and the results are truly a collaboration between the potter and nature.

--- Clayton Amemiya

Clayton Amemiya
b. October 9, 1946, Wahiawa, Oahu, HI

Education: 1960—1965 Punahou Academy Honolulu, Hawaii
                   1965—1969 University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii
                                        B.A., Asian Studies
                               1976 University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii
                                        MA., History
Ceramic Study: 1972—1973, 1975, 1977 Sensei Seisho Kuniyoshi Yomitan, Okinawa
                                        Numerous short visits coinciding with anagama firings

Exhibitions and Significant Dates;

Summer 1979: Purchased 3 acres agricultural land in Waiakea-Uka, Hilo, with wife Janet, and built
     home and studio. My son, Zenn, was bom in Fall 1979 in Hilo.
Joint exhibit with F. Salmoiraghi, Gallery EAS, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1982.
Joint exhibit with F. Salmoiraghi, Volcano Arts Center, Volcano National Park, 1983.
Group exhibit, “Big Island Clay,” Holualoa, Kona, 1983.
Solo exhibit, “Pottery in Wood Ash Glazes,” Studio 7 Gallery, Holualoa, Kona 1985.
Completion of Anagama construction, 1986, Hilo, Hawaii.
Joint exhibit with R. Kanakanui, L. Tomono and B. Tomono, “Form and Tradition,” Wailoa Arts Center,
     Hilo, Hawaii, 1987.
Group exhibit, “Nikkei Art,” St.-Gilles Gallery, Tokyo, 1987.
Joint exhibit with H. Morinoue, Gallery EAS, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1987.
Joint exhibit with F. Salmoiraghi, Gallery EAS, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1988.
State Foundation on Culture and Arts purchase of “Koke #7,” wood-fired vase form, 1988.
Solo exhibit, Kuroda Toen Ceramic Gallery, Tokyo, 1989.
Joint exhibit with F. Salmoiraghi, Che Pasta. Honolulu, Hawaii, 1995.
Solo exhibit, “Jonetsu,” East Hawaii Cultural Center, Hilo, HawaIi, 1997.
Group exhibit, “Asian American Art,” U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, 1998.
Opening of Rain Gallery, Hilo, Hawaii, August 1998.
Solo exhibit, “Recent Works”, Walloa Arts Center, Hilo, Hawaii, 1999.
“Mud, An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics in Hawaii,” Hui Noeau Visual Arts
     Center, Makawao, Maui, 2000.
“Fuping/HAP Invitational Ceramic Workshop,” Beijing and Fuping, China, August 2001. (Invited Artist)
Solo exhibit, “Shrine in the Rain,” Bibelot Gallery, Honolulu, Hawaii, Sept. 2002.
Solo exhibit, "Momoyama of the Mind," idspace, Kurtistown, HI, 2007
Joint exhibit with S. Garon and L. Tomono, "Three Traditions, A Trialogue in Photography, Pottery,
     Wood," Wailoa Center, Hilo, HI, 2007
Various juried exhibitions, for example: Artists of Hawaii, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2001, 2003,
     2004 “Feats of Clay,” Lincoln Arts and Culture Center, Lincoln, California, 2002, 2005, 2007
My work is included in public and private collections in the United States, France, Germany, Great
     Britain, People’s Republic of China, and Japan.

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See more works by Clayton Amemiya in the online gallery in this magazine.