Trolldom Teku Maku Maya Kon
Artist: Katsuyo Aoki (Japanese, born 1972)
Date: 2017-2018
Dimensions:
140 × 86 × 9 in. (355.6 × 218.4 × 22.9 cm)
Medium: Glazed porcelain with cobalt underglaze
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 2019.83
Label Text:Trolldom Teku Maku Maya Kon synthesizes cultures, times, and decorative themes into a single artwork that is as fantastical as the nonsense phrase of its name. Known for her intricately sculpted white porcelain objects, Katsuyo Aoki collaborated on its creation with her partner, Shinichiro Kitaura, a painter. Bringing the exuberant organic forms of 18th-century Rococo ornament into the 21st century, Katsuyo pairs this distinctive visual language with porcelain, a material notorious for its extreme difficulty and delicacy. The cobalt underglaze found in the central tiles employs the blue and white porcelain tradition that historically dominated East Asian ceramics, while also evoking those from early modern Europe, including Dutch Delftware like the two covered vases flanking this gallery’s entrance.
Eleven-and-a-half feet high and more than 7 feet wide, this imposing yet fragile object commands viewers’ attention and self-reflection. Its form recalls an elaborately carved mirror, but rather than glass at the center, we find a visual cacophony of birds, butterflies, flowers, and, buried within, a skull—a motif found throughout Katsuyo’s work. Juxtaposing vibrating life with a reminder of human mortality, the work prompts contemplation on the fleeting nature of life, a theme echoed by Jan Miense Molenaer’s Allegory of Vanity across the room.
Eleven-and-a-half feet high and more than 7 feet wide, this imposing yet fragile object commands viewers’ attention and self-reflection. Its form recalls an elaborately carved mirror, but rather than glass at the center, we find a visual cacophony of birds, butterflies, flowers, and, buried within, a skull—a motif found throughout Katsuyo’s work. Juxtaposing vibrating life with a reminder of human mortality, the work prompts contemplation on the fleeting nature of life, a theme echoed by Jan Miense Molenaer’s Allegory of Vanity across the room.
DescriptionWall-mounted porcelain in shape of large medallion; center of the work is hand-painted with blue and white underglaze comprised of a large skull at the top and numerous butterflies and flowers. The entire medallion is framed with an ornately carved white frame with a crown at the center top terminating in a long pointed end.
On view