Kaz Ota

Kaz Ota has been working in ceramics for the past 14 years.  His work is greatly influenced by Japanese pottery, particularly by the Mengei Movement championed by Dr. Soetsu Yanagi, Bernard Leach, Kanjiro Kawai, and Shoji Hanada.  Born Japanese, Kaz cannot escape Japanese culture and aesthetics.  The words simplicity and austerity come to mind when reflecting on the aesthetics for Japanese art and culture.  These two words greatly reflect and influence his work today in clay.  

Kaz works with four different methods of firing (Kazegama, Woodfire, Cone 5 oxidation in electric kiln, and American Raku) and each has its unique quality.  The four different methods of firing have their own aesthetics and leave a different finish and feeling to the surface of the work.