The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 3 November 2014

Focu s: Collaboration
Mend
John Papworth bowl with repa irs by Kate Hill and Bree Claffey
In a recent gallery show at Mr Kitly, curator Bree Claffey and artist Kate Hill worked together on the
project Mend, an exhibition of pottery repaired using the Japanese method of Kintsugi.
This method of 'gold repair' dates back to the tea masters of Japan in the 16th century where stories
were first recorded of tea bowls being regarded more beautiful for having been broken then mended.
The Japanese cultural and aesthetic idea of mono no aware (lit. 'the pathos of things') is encapsulated
beautifully in the practice of kintsugi. It is an awareness of the transience of things, the realisation
that all th ings are impermanent. and with that realisation an appreciation of their beauty is heightened.
The deep appreciation of the ephemeral spring blossoms in Japan is another example of th is uniquely
Japanese aesthetic. *
W ith Kate Hill having learnt to repair pottery in Japan, and being a ceramicist involved with Mr Kitly
for the past few years, her coming together with Bree Claffey for Mend made penect sense. Both
women share an appreciation for clay not only as a medium, but of Japanese culture, aesthetics, and the
richness of working with other people for a deeper conversation .
Having agreed to collaborate across all aspects of the work, the two teamed up to collate broken
or chipped pottery from their personal collections and also gathered from friends and fam ily. Along
with the physical pieces, they collected an anthology of personal stories which spoke of individual
THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 35