Kazunori Hamana has voluminous, hand-built ceramic vessels that reflect his deep relationship with nature. His work is informed by traditional Japanese tsubo, or clay jars, and is adorned in eye-catching glazes that he uses to create dynamic patterns. Self-taught, Hamana left home at the age of 15 to work with local farmers in Hy?go Prefecture, and he has cultivated a lifelong fascination with the environment. Hamana works with a deliberate slowness, placing his fired pots outdoors where they respond to the seasons and natural elements like sunlight and salt spray from the ocean. Hamana lives in a rural fishing village in Chiba Prefecture, where he balances time in the studio with his work as an organic rice farmer, fisherman, and anchovy sauce-maker.
