More than one hundred ceramic vessels and figurines by Shio Kusaka populated a single pedestal (topped with light-pink Formica) that coursed through the three galleries of Blum & Poe’s ground floor. At one end of this giant horseshoe-shaped display was a grouping of pots whose decorative schemes suggested two strawberries, two beach balls, and a watermelon. At the other end was a cluster of five tall vases decorated with dinosaurs that grapple with one another, their claws and teeth drawing comical red-glaze blood. In between was a diverse range of experiments in arrangement and categorization, each group with its own internal logic and exceptions to its given rule. Kusaka’s titling strategy is flatly descriptive, and here, as with all of her works, the vessels were categorized and numbered consecutively. These categories usually, but not always, described the pots’ primary visual elements or processes of construction. For example, (carved 90) (all works cited, 2016) features a design that is incised into the clay, and (wood 5) is glazed to resemble wood grain. Following this logic, one might imagine a vast catalogue raisonné of Kusaka’s work, with each creation appearing in both categorical and chronological order. This is the fantasy that Kusaka’s ceramics imply—that everything can be contained and cross-referenced.
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