Tetsuya Kayama majored in Japanese painting at Tama Art University and, after graduating, pursued a career in ceramics under Shiro Banura.

Some time after graduating from university, Tetsuya sent me a sake bottle and sake cups.

Unlike the refined and sophisticated forms pursued by his father, Professor Matazo Kayama, these pieces, though unfinished, possess a generous and generous form that exudes warmth.

This time, my work will be displayed in the same space as Yasushi Sugiyama 's.

Mr. Sugiyama, who stood at the forefront of the Nitten exhibition, and Mr. Kayama, who was active in the Soga-kai, both pursued refined beauty, symbolism, and the ultimate in reality, and no matter how many decorative words I use, I cannot overdo it.

I believe that Tetsuya's broad and generous nature is, in a sense, the complete opposite of the other two, and that they can be contrasted.

Kiyokazu Yoneya (Member of the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition, Honorary Professor at Tama Art University, Japanese-style painter)

When I was in junior high school, I visited the workshop in Iga of Shiro Banura, a ceramic artist who had become a relative through a fortunate connection, and was allowed to touch the clay.

I was so engrossed in creating things like plates and vases that I dreamed of making it my profession someday, and I even considered starting an apprenticeship as soon as I graduated from high school.

Following the advice of my father, who was a Japanese painter, who said, "Painting is the foundation of all creative activities, so at least master it before going to Mr. Banura," I enrolled in the Japanese Painting Department at Tama Art University.

At that time, the Japanese Painting Department at Tama Art University had a teaching system consisting of three professors: Professor Fumiko Hori, my father, and Professor Yasuo Ueno.

All three were painters belonging to the Sogakai (a painting association).

During my student days, I studied Japanese painting and aimed to participate in the Sogakai (a painting association) as a venue for showcasing my work.

I also looked at other organizations and studied the works of painters who were active in the same era.

Among them, I felt that the Japanese paintings at the Nitten exhibition were the complete opposite of the Japanese paintings at the Sogakai exhibition at the time.

Even to my eyes as a still-inexperienced student at the time, Professor Yasushi Sugiyama 's Japanese paintings were outstanding.

I strongly felt that he was aiming for a completely different extreme from the style of painting my father had been familiar with since childhood.

In particular, the way the colors are rendered through the layering of mineral pigments, and the beauty created by the technically sophisticated combination of particles, is breathtaking. By getting close to the painting and then stepping back to look at it carefully, I was drawn in by the exquisite skill, and as someone who aspires to a career in crafts in the future, I learned about the potential of Japanese art.

After graduating from university, I achieved my initial goal of becoming an apprentice to the Banura Shiro school of painting, and I believe that the knowledge and ideas I gained from studying Japanese painting are being utilized to some extent in my current work.

As an artist, I'm not particularly skillful, and before I know it, I'm engrossed in the process of shaping pottery, and I've ended up with a huge amount of fabric filling up a shelf.

Then, for many of those large quantities of fabric, I envision a picture that would suit the fabric and paint it on.

Many of the motifs for my paintings come from natural scenes I find while walking around the mountains and sea surrounding my studio.

When I paint birds, insects, flowers, fish, and other subjects, I rely on the inherent strength of the ceramic material to express my own unique sense of beauty.

I am deeply humbled to have received the unexpected opportunity to have my pottery displayed alongside Professor Sugiyama's, but I believe that the significant difference between our works will also offer an interesting opportunity to discover something new.

I am truly grateful for this encounter in the renowned Kakiden Gallery, a space renowned in the world of ceramics.

Tetsuya Kayama