Porcelain is ostensibly a static form. You fire it, it's solid
but what she's doing is pushing it forward showing us that it can dance
it has light, it has space, it has movement and I think there is sound
when I look at that I can hear the rustling of the leaves.
You can see she just doesn't stop at the first thing you see there's always more
somebody with an observant eye will notice that there is more going on inside and underneath
in an object and her work is like that it's not just a matter of what you see on the surface
but that feeling that there is something more going on inside.
Hosono san's work is very much her own. She is a unique artist
but she definitely has a grounding in Japan.
In part, I can see that through her use of porcelain, her textures, the careful rendition
it's very very hard to use sprig moulds in the way that she has done it
A sprig mould is for ornamentation, it is used in Wedgewood to adorn a piece in a few places
she has made the form from these moulds, which is really unheard of.
Being a white porcelain, no that's not a Japanese material even I think the material is European
it's the attention to detail and the spiritual personal process
is where the Japanese element of her work comes through very very loudly.
Hosono Hitomi's 1,000 leaf jar is literally 1,000 leaves
that have been made individually in sprig mould and then attached to a core
to make this undulating fantastic creation that the leaves move and rustle on the outside
and then rustle all the way in, into the very very centre
It was through the art fund and through the craft council that I was able to bid for her work
Once I saw it it was like falling in love at first sight, I had to have it, I had to have it for our galleries
I am very very proud that its at the very front as you come in
it's one of the first works you see as you enter the gallery.