TOKYO >> Maneki neko, or beckoning cats, come in various colors and poses, but no one had ever heard of a studded maneki neko before. Ceramist Takahiro Koga, based in Nakagawa, Fukuoka prefecture, is garnering attention at home and abroad with his unique studded ceramic works. Koga, 37, has broken ground in the pottery world with his original style, which gives his pieces an unmistakable presence.
Protruding from his white ceramic maneki neko are cone-shaped gold and silver studs. Similar shapes adorn his sculpture “Neo-Daruma,” whose golden eyes stare out from behind a menbo, or traditional face armor. At first glance, the works seem to have roots in punk fashion.
But it was a white ceramic pot at the Leeum Museum of Art in South Korea that first inspired Koga when he was still a university student. There was power internalized in the piece, and he wanted create pottery with the same impact. He pondered how to express such power, and after some trial and error, he figured out to how to do it: studs.
“They’re an interesting shape, the minimum unit of power,” he said. Koga also crafts unique cups, called ho yoroi hai, that resemble the menacing face armor worn by Sengoku warlords. He views the unpredictability of today’s world as the era of gekokujo, a term that refers to someone of lower status overthrowing a person of higher status.
Through his ho yoroi hai, he expresses a belief that anyone can stand out if they have the will and determination to break new gro.
