Beautifully Broken
Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art form that repairs broken or chipped ceramics and pottery. The basic philosophy of Kintsugi is to discover the beauty in imperfection, so the focus is not just in only mending the cracks, but to accentuate the beauty of the broken parts of the piece's unique history and identity. Using a lacquer to seal the cracks, and then sprinkling these seams with pure gold, Kintsugi highlights the "flaws" rather than hiding them. So instead of casting the broken object aside or throwing it away, the idea is to breathe new life into the broken piece, and to find and appreciate the value and beauty in its new form.
The technique is believed to have been established over 400 years ago, dating back to the 17th century, when the tea ceremony was established. In particular, a type of tea ceremony called Wabicha, in which wasteful use of things was minimized. For example, even when used with care, tea utensils could become cracked or chipped, so the idea of repairing these vessels instead of replacing them was the basis of Kintsugi.
The term Kintsugi comes from the Japanese word "kin" meaning gold, and "tsugi" meaning to join, so put together, it literally means, "joining with gold."
Traditional Kintsugi requires time and lots of patience. It takes about a month to complete a Kintsugi piece done from traditional methods, which places a lot of emphasis on using natural materials that will eventually decompose back into nature. The lacquer used in traditional Kintsugi comes from the sap of the Urushi tree, and historically would involve cutting down the tree to retrieve the sap. This lacquer takes a long time to harden, which fits in with the philosophy of being willing to wait for things and to take your time. Then powdered gold is used to create the final finished product.
In recent times, modern Kintsugi is concerned with saving time, and uses more easily available and affordable commercial applications, like synthetic glues. However, this results in the ceramics not being "food safe," so the repaired items can only be used for decor.
Below, you can enjoy viewing several ceramic pieces by 5 prominent Kintsugi artists. These artworks reveal that the true beauty of this art form, is that each golden seam tells a story of transformation and resilience, showing that challenges and changes are not flaws to be hidden, but are essential parts of life. Kintsugi can help remind us to boldly embrace ourselves--scars, imperfections, and all.
Myriam Greff (also created the blue vase at the beginning of this blog)
And as with almost any art form, there are always new creations and variations that are constantly pushing new methods and ways of doing things. As you can see in the pictures below, these days, artists are really pushing the boundaries of how Kintsugi can be used and applied, such as jewelry, tattoo art, and sculpture(top row), and blacktop resurfacing, eggshell art, and tile flooring(bottom row).
If you are interested in seeing some of the process of creating Kintsugi, you can also enjoy watching this short video from the CBS Sunday Morning Show.
"And yes, this world is shattered, everywhere but there is glue and it is me and it is you picking up pieces of each other to get through." ~Donna Ashworth
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