Minami Samejima^[8]

Minami Samejima is based in Aichi. She uses a unique process to fire her work, whereby she layers her work into a box called “Saya”, this box is packed with leftover, excess rice husks (chaff) collected from her parent's rice farm.

Minami doesn’t apply any glaze to her work, instead, she uses the process of firing. During this process she sinks her objects in the ash of rice husks, this creates a natural dark charcoal tone along with a glaze to seal each piece. The surface of each object has many tiny air holes, thus it will change over time with age. The teapot will absorb colour as well as the scent of the tea that you use, while the bowls will gain strength through absorbing the natural oils from food

The natural and sustainable life cycle of Minami’s production reflects her philosophy of creations. The technique she uses is incredibly personal and unique and is the answer behind the attractive colour and texture to her work.

• Some of her vases have a waterproof silicon applied on them. 
• Sink the objects into water ( starch water from washing rice) before you use it. This will slow the process of any oil and colour staining the object.
• The stain may stand out at the beginning of use, however, it will create a unique landscape pattern as you use it more often.