The exquisitely curated shop / creative studio in Venice, Chariots on Fire has commissioned renowned LA-based potter Adam Silverman to create a new set of work filled with the plant artistry of Kohei Oda, owner of Qusamura, an award-winning plant boutique in Hiroshima, Japan. The result is "A Tale of Plant & Pot" on view now through May 1st with the opening reception this Sunday, April 27th.
In keeping with Chariots on Fire philosophy of mixing old with new, local with international, both artists worked independently in the US and Japan respectively. Each sharing a common vision based on their love of the natural world and the age-old harmony between pot and plant. The union comes together as an exchange of ideas formed by an understanding of space & form, and the timeless relationship of art to nature.
This practice of 'grafted cactus' is the art and science of connecting two pieces of living plant tissue together to grow as one composite plant. Kohei Oda uses this technique to preserve the original nature of the plant and to allow it to thrive and grow in unexpected forms. RAD. All the cacti are grafted and most are very rare species. The cactus are composed of two elements: the tops (rootstock) and the base (scion). Usually, the tops will grow, multiply and flower, while the bases don't grow so much, they can sprout additional arms. His philosophy has always been to work with plants that have personality, to salvage what could be discarded as a damaged plant, to see the potential in each imperfection. In Japanese, the word for horticulture is EN-GEI: EN - meaning garden, GEI - meaning performance. For Oda, it is the GEI that he accentuates, allowing the plants perform as individuals.
Kohei Oda has a
blog which gives a peek into this fascinating process. His non-traditional approach to horticulture earned him a Wallpaper Design award in 2013 and has exhibited widely in Japan. This will be his first show in the US.
Adam Silverman is .... uh AWESOME: he has a BFA in Architecture from
RISD, was a practicing architect in California, is co-founder of
X-Large &
X-Girl and earned an MBA from
UCLA. Throughout his "career meanderings," Adam had made pots as a hobby, which he started doing in high school and went on to become a full-time professional potter in 2002. I first saw his work in
this 2005 fantastic 6-page article in
Brutus Magazine. Since '08 Adam has been partner and studio director of
Heath Ceramics. He has exhibited extensively in the US and Japan including large-scale installation work that gives a connection to architecture.
Kohei Oda's living sculptures in play with Adam Silverman's other-worldly textural glazed experimental pottery showcase the beauty in the perfectly imperfect.
A Tale of Plant & Pot : Kohei Oda & Adam Silverman
Opening Reception with artists Sunday, April 27th, 5 - 7pm
On view through May 1st now extended through May 7th
all images courtesy of Chariots on Fire
