Clear Daybreak

China claims to be the birth place of porcelain and the pale blue, qingbai, glazed porcelain is one of the oldest glazing methods that gained popularity in eleventh century Southern China. The combination of clay and glaze, characterized by the beautiful contrast of blue and white, is considered to be one of the landmarks of the rich history of Chinese porcelain. Fukami extends this traditional medium to the realm of conceptual sculpture. He is well-known for his porcelain sculptures in abstract forms, but also won a number of prizes with wheel thrown works such as this. A sister piece of this work received the Special Prize at the Japan Fine Art Exhibition (Nitten) in 1984, and is in the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.