{"title":"Masaaki Iwasa 岩佐昌昭","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eMasaaki Iwasa leads two lives in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture: as head priest of Tokuen Temple, a Rinzai Zen monastery with over three hundred years of history, and as a ceramic artist whose work is inseparable from that practice. Born in Ehime Prefecture in 1979, he spent nearly a decade apprenticing under master potters in Japan before establishing his kiln in Izumo in 2013.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eHis signature technique, \u003cem\u003etoutai shitsuki\u003c\/em\u003e (ceramic lacquerware), applies lacquer as an adhesive for metal leaf onto fired ceramic vessels, which are then refired at several hundred degrees. Where the metal adheres and burns away, a landscape emerges on the surface, quiet, unpredictable, and unrepeatable. Each piece develops its own patina over time, shifting in tone and texture with age, a quality he traces to a life spent among ancient temple objects whose gold and silver leaf has grown more beautiful over centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"masaaki-iwasa-vase-26-01","title":"Masaaki Iwasa 26-01","description":"\u003cp\u003eMasaaki Iwasa\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA wide, folded vessel in Iwasa's toutai shitsuki (ceramic lacquerware) technique, its exterior surface warm and burnished, catching light differently from every angle. Where the metal leaf has pooled and pulled away during firing, a landscape of fine cracks, scattered marks, and dark voids opens across the surface, each one unrepeatable. A piece that reads as both ancient and immediate, equally at home as a statement object on a shelf or holding a single stem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDimensions: 5.5\" L × 5.5\" W × 10.0\" H (140 × 140 × 255 mm)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MASAAKI IWASA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49806560887024,"sku":null,"price":1380.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/files\/Masaaki_2601_01.jpg?v=1780671354"},{"product_id":"masaaki-iwasa-vase-26-02","title":"Masaaki Iwasa 26-02","description":"\u003cp\u003eMasaaki Iwasa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA tall, cylindrical vessel with a gently compressed, organic form, its surface warm and continuous, the metal leaf catching the light in long, quiet sweeps. Shallow folds and creases move across the exterior like the surface of worn bark or old cloth, and the deep black glazed rim sits in soft contrast to the luminous exterior below. This is a piece that belongs in a considered interior, the kind of object that holds its place on a shelf or table.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDimensions: 4.9\" L × 4.9\" W × 12.6\" H (125 × 125 × 320 mm)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MASAAKI IWASA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49806561313008,"sku":null,"price":1380.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/files\/Masaaki_2602_02.jpg?v=1780671479"},{"product_id":"masaaki-iwasa-vase-26-03","title":"Masaaki Iwasa 26-03","description":"\u003cp\u003eMasaaki Iwasa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA faceted vessel in deep, muted tones of iron and earth, its surface matte and weathered, as though it has been found rather than made. Unlike Iwasa's more luminous works, this piece absorbs light rather than reflecting it, its patina shifting between warm brown, cool grey, and near black depending on where the eye lands. For those drawn to objects with weight and restraint, it sits beautifully among natural materials, dark wood, stone, dried botanicals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDimensions: 4.7\" L × 1.8\" W × 9.1\" H (120 × 45 × 230 mm)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MASAAKI IWASA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49806561345776,"sku":null,"price":940.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/files\/Masaaki_2603_01.jpg?v=1780671529"},{"product_id":"masaaki-iwasa-vase-26-04","title":"Masaaki Iwasa 26-04","description":"\u003cp\u003eMasaaki Iwasa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA slender, tall bud vase with a triangular cross-section that twists gently as it rises, narrowing to a small, precise opening at the top. There is a quiet architectural quality to the form, spare and upright, with just enough irregularity to remind you it was made by hand. It is designed for a single stem, and that restraint is the point: one flower, one vessel, one moment of attention on a desk, a windowsill, or a bedside table.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDimensions: 1.3\" L × 1.3\" W × 12.2\" H (32 × 32 × 310 mm)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MASAAKI IWASA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49806692876528,"sku":null,"price":720.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/files\/Masaaki_2604_03.jpg?v=1780671586"},{"product_id":"masaaki-iwasa-vase-26-05","title":"Masaaki Iwasa 26-05","description":"\u003cp\u003eMasaaki Iwasa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA slender, tall bud vase with a triangular cross-section that twists gently as it rises, narrowing to a small, precise opening at the top. There is a quiet architectural quality to the form, spare and upright, with just enough irregularity to remind you it was made by hand. It is designed for a single stem, and that restraint is the point: one flower, one vessel, one moment of attention on a desk, a windowsill, or a bedside table.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDimensions: 1.2\" L × 1.2\" W × 12.9\" H (30 × 30 × 328 mm)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MASAAKI IWASA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49806692909296,"sku":null,"price":720.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/files\/Masaaki_2605_02.jpg?v=1780673606"},{"product_id":"masaaki-iwasa-vase-26-06","title":"Masaaki Iwasa 26-06","description":"\u003cp\u003eMasaaki Iwasa\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA compact, obelisk-form vase with clean, straight edges that taper precisely from base to a small triangular opening at the top. The surface is richly patinated, warm amber and bronze at the base deepening into near-black toward the top. It earns its place on any surface where a single stem deserves a serious counterpart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eDimensions: 1.2\" L × 1.2\" W × 9.3\" H (30 × 30 × 235 mm)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MASAAKI IWASA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49806693007600,"sku":null,"price":580.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/files\/Masaaki_2606_02.jpg?v=1780673565"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/8773\/0416\/collections\/MASAAKI_IWASA_01.jpg?v=1780551497","url":"https:\/\/arj.la\/collections\/masaaki-iwasa.oembed","provider":"ARJ Los Angeles","version":"1.0","type":"link"}