Machiko Ogawa's creations are like ancient memories wrought from clay and buried centuries ago, waiting to be discovered today. Like scenes long lost in the maze of the mind, the ceramic artist's work reappears as if emerging from a dream -- a dream formed of clay.
In particular, Ogawa's grouped cylindrical works appear to have been dug out of a prehistoric dwelling site and put on show with no further ado. They look crumbly, yet are in fact sturdy; they're oddly fresh-looking, but are often covered with crusty frostlike remnants of their primordial birth. They touch a nerve in the viewer and are a reminder of the sublime power of ceramics and how they relate, perhaps more than any other art form, to the evolution of humankind.
For her primitively modern works in clay, last year Ogawa became only the fourth woman to be awarded the Japan Ceramic Society Prize (the others being Kyo Tsuji, Hakuko Ono and Takako Araki). Now, her work, along with examples from 48 past winners, will be on display at Wako in Tokyo's Ginza from Jan. 18-26.