Casa Brutus Magazine
two page article in the July 2006
issue of Casa Brutus magazine

click here for photo enlargements

(translation)

Casa BRUTUS
vol.76 July 2006 issue
Welcome to Okapi Lounge

Guest: Adam Silverman
After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, Adam worked as an Architect, and co-founded a clothing brand <X-LARGE> and eventually established Atwater Pottery in 2003. Making simple, yet strong forms complimented by unique glaze work, Adam pursues contemporary functional ware in his work.

From 7/7/06, Adam Silverman has
a solo exhibition @ Playmountain VILLA.
(3-52-5-104 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo. +81-3-5775-6747

LA Potter Goes to Mashiko. How and Why?

Just about a year ago, Adam visited Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture, a small pottery town, for the first time. He encountered the world he’d seen and read about in books, and it brought back fond memories. An idea grew inside him and he decided to return to Mashiko this time, to "make pots in a completely different environment from my studio." Using the local clay and local glaze, the pots thrown here in May 2006 will be fired in a climbing wood kiln in July.

Casa BRUTUS (C): So Why Mashiko?
Adam Silverman (A): Well, Mashiko chose me, in a way. I was invited to Mashiko Reference Museum (Shoji Hamada's old house) last May and after that, I had a chance to visit Takeshi Sekizawa kiln with my friend's referral. The half basement workshop space with natural grown ferns on the soil floor and, the well cared Sekizawa garden around the house made me want to one day come back and make pots here in this environment. In Mashiko, you see so many different kinds of pots and ceramics that food is served on everyday. And pottery is deeply part of people's daily lives and conversations here. This is so different from LA, it's really interesting.

C: How was it after actually working here?
A: My Studio, Atwater Pottery, is located in the middle of a dense area, a very urban environment. I use electric kilns and use processed clay and glazes. In a way, everything is controlled. But in Mashiko, I am using a local clay, Mashiko Suihido (known as Nami-Tsuchi, regular clay) and local glazes, and will be firing the pots in the climbing wood fired kiln, so it is the complete opposite situation from what I have in LA. But in the end, it is still my hands that are throwing the clay on the wheel. Mashiko clay feels sandy compared to what I usually use, and it has a certain strength when you try to stretch it out. I do enjoy these differences though.

C: I heard that you are coming back to fire the climbing kiln.
A: Yes, I am planning an approximate 10 days itinerary in July. Mashiko is known for climbing kiln. The local clay, glaze, and the traditional wood kiln...it's all ambiguous how much I can bring it together with my style, but pottery is in a way gamble, and that's what makes it so interesting.

(photo captions)
Middle
Left: Chocolate x Lava flower vase.
Texture and form makes a unique beauty.
Bottom
Left: wheel thrown pots are
all sketched and recorded in his notebook.
Middle: Mashiko thrown pots have the
Mashiko signature - character"MASHI"
- which Adam picked up from road signs.
Well yes, the character sure seems
like a plate under the roof.
Right: A mutual friend introduced Adam to
Sekizawa kiln in Mashiko. Here, Adam has
tea with 3rd generation potter Takeshi Sekizawa.