A PASSION FOR COLOUR
Memories, aesthetics, ways of seeing and
the lifelong pursuit of CURIOSITY through COLOUR.
MEMORIES: "Sea of Life, Sea of Humanity - A Story of a Piece"
"Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color."
-Maggie Nelson-
"BLUETS "
“Sea of Life, Sea of Humanity” is a piece from my INWARD Series. This piece was sitting on my wall for four years - as a wood panel. Only recently, I finally found the courage to deal with uncomfortable emotions from my childhood past in finally painting this piece.
During Covid, I finally had the courage to reflect and deal with uncomfortable emotions from my past. I entered an eight-month program for survivors of childhood abuse and learned the importance of vulnerability, the sharing of our stories and the value of creating genuine connections. I still remember the first day when our mentor referred to us as “warriors” and not “survivors.” This was extremely empowering.
I have a personal positive colour association with a certain blue. The colour Ultramarine is symbolic of a meaningful childhood memory for me. My mother use to sew and would take me on trips to the fabric store. I was always drawn to the satin blues and a certain tone of blue. I would crawl towards the center of the blue bolts of fabric and hide. Looking out at the space sometimes looking for my mother, I was surrounded by a sea of blue. Many tones of beautiful blue – gliding my hands on the smooth satin watching how it glistened in the light. I hang on to this positive childhood memory – one of innocence, play, purity and wonder.
I also see the colour Ultramarine as a sacred colour. Throughout history and extracted from Lapis Lazuli, there was a time where this colour was considered more precious than gold. I parallel the sacredness of this colour to the sacredness of motherhood. This piece not only represents for me, the role as protector as a mother and ensuring our children are safe but also represents my complicated relationship with my own mother. I hold on to the colour Ultramarine when the darkness creeps in - this certain blue that will always evoke positive childhood memories for me.
Weaving, cracking, painting and the repetitive nature of the work is a very meditative process for me. My process includes weaving natural linen on a loom and cracking the surface with tile grout. The pattern of woven fabric parallels the pattern of the cracks. I layer the grout then crack with a hammer and chisel. I then saturate the piece with many layers of colour. The piece utilizes close to 80 washes of Ultramarine Blue. Some of the cracks have been filled with an iridescent gold pigment - a reminder of our scars and past experiences that make us who we are. This is based on "Kintsugi", the Japanese art of repairing ceramics with gold and a reminder of the beauty of human fragility, adversity and fortitude.
From “Sea of Life, Sea of Humanity” I learned that my past scars do not have to define who I am but will always be part of me. Through acceptance, this has made me who I am today. In expressing emotions of joy and happiness in my work but also expressing uncomfortable emotions of grief, loneliness, sadness and anger - this has enabled me to discover a new sense of freedom by acknowledging a traumatic past, expressing vulnerability thus creating valuable human connections.
Karen Bagayawa
MEMORIES: “Colourful Sundays at a Thrift Store and an Ode to Sachiko”
When I lived in Japan, every Sunday I would ride my bike with my best friend Sachiko to the thrift store in search of wonderful things. My bike had a basket on the front and back and a rusty, old bell.
Although she was thirty years older, we were connected in some strange way. I was learning Japanese, she was learning English, we both had a sweet tooth and loved to laugh. She had a loud, boisterous laugh that would make people turn their heads curious of our conversation. Most of our conversations were quite animated, a guessing game of awkward hand gestures, but once we understood each other there was always a lot of laughter.
Every Sunday I would teach her English classes at the local gym. We would then swim laps together in the pool, hop on our bikes to go to the thrift store and the afternoon would end in a Japanese cooking lesson in her kitchen wearing matching aprons. Her husband would be watching television as we cooked, and we whispered and chuckled. She was not fond of her husband and would always tell me she looked forward to Sundays as it was reprise from an unhappy and abusive home life.
At the thrift stores, there were so many wonderful things that sparked my curiosity and I would find myself always contemplating their past stories. Calligraphy on Japanese rice paper all rolled up in piles. When I unraveled them dust would fill the air. Traditional wooden dolls (Kokeshi) – all shapes and sizes on shelves. Their solemn presence seemed to bear the spirits of their previous owners. Rusty tools, tarnished silverware, iron kettles, lacquerware bowls, swords and rolled up door curtains (Noren) scattered the walls, hung crookedly side by side. In large bins piled in a disorderly fashion were wooden shoes (Geta) and swatches of patterned kimono fabric. So many things to look at but I was always drawn to the Japanese ceramics section. Beautiful ceramic pieces were displayed on dusty shelves and some were displayed as beautiful sets in unopened wooden boxes. Piles and piles of unopened boxes. Sachiko said that many newlyweds do not appreciate some of the gifts that were given to them or have no room for them, so the beautiful ceramic sets were abandoned gifts - waiting for the perfect person to give them a special home. In choosing a specific piece, I was always drawn to colour, texture, the beauty of uneven edges, simplicity in form and the elegant signature imprinted on the bottom of the piece.
​Sachiko and I would fill our bicycle baskets and ride away chatting about our special finds. When I came home I would package my ceramic pieces and ship them to my home address in Canada. When I finally returned to Canada I felt like a kid on Christmas Day or my Birthday opening packages of beautiful things and remembering those special Sundays. I had forgotten some of the pieces I sent to myself so every package was an assortment of wonderful surprises. These are some of my favorite pieces from my collection – memories of colourful Sundays spent in Japan remembering the feelings of excitement on a bicycle to a thrift store and a genuine connection with an old friend. I think of her often – her kindness, generosity, her boisterous laugh and love for sweets.
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Karen Bagayawa
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"...the idea of beauty living in everything would quite naturally create a more restorative world."
-Alan Moore-
"Do Design: Why Beauty is Key to Everything"
AESTHETICS: “My Hagi - Yaki Collection and the Importance of Honing one's Craft”
During my stay in Japan I fell in love with Hagi - yaki, a ware that sometimes utilizes more then ninety glazes to achieve its "earthly texture". The repetitive glazing techniques created simple and elegant, textural pieces. I was introduced to Hagi - yaki by my Japanese mentors who taught me the importance of honing one's craft through repetition and perfecting a personal technique. Developed over 400 years ago in the small town of Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture the ware utilizes a local clay called "kuchi - tsuchi" to create the wonderful texture. One iconic feature of Hagi - yaki is that the surface colour changes over time - it is a slightly porous ware that absorbs the sake and tea through the crackles in the glaze through a process called "nanabake" or the "seven transformations." Tezumi describes Hagi - yaki as possessing "warm hues, simple lines and elegantly understated glazes making it one of Japan's most recognizable and beloved ceramic traditions." Many of these pieces were given to me as gifts and are a constant reminder of the craftmanship of Japanese pottery.
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Karen Bagayawa
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Can you see the beautiful crackles on the glazed surface?
"Kiri - koudai":
A triangular shaped chip is a feature of Hagi yaki cups.
"Shira - Hagi" (White Hagi):
Using a glaze that combines straw ash and an earth ash solution - this black mixture transforms into a pure white glaze during the firing process. The carbon within the straw ash evaporates and a cloudy white emerges. This creates a highly textured piece of drips and depth.
"Gohon(te)" or "Kase":
A particular style of pink spots on a beige or grey background resembling the spots on a deer's back.
