chisato_kobayakawa

upcoming exhibition, 5/3~5/18, 2025 "From the Egg, It Begins"

From the egg, It BeginsーChisato Kobayakawa

わたしが産むときめた”たまご” 　小早川智里個展5/3~5/18, 2025

Kaoru Hirano-Flag

Kaoru Hirano -opening photo5

chisato_kobayakawa

upcoming exhibition, 5/3~5/18, 2025 "From the Egg, It Begins"

1/28

　 CURRENT EXHIBITION 　

小早川智里　個展　
Chisato Kobayakawa solo exhibition

わたしが産むときめた”たまご”
From the Egg, It Begins

会期：2025年　5/03 ~ 5/18　（金、土、日、祝日）
時間：11：00〜17：00

広島県安芸太田町で活動する陶芸家・小早川智里さんは、2025年1月に初めて新たな命を迎えました。本展では、かつて自身の葛藤や感情を込めて制作した大きな壺、そのストーリーを伝えるインスタレーション展示を初公開します。妊娠という生命を宿す経験と向き合いながら制作した新作「たまご」と共に、過去から現在、そして未来へ続く生命の物語を紡ぐ展示です。アーティストの決意と新たな挑戦に光を当てる本展は、「生命」と「創造」の深い結びつきを見つめるひとときを私たちに届けるでしょう。

Ceramic artist Chisato Kobayakawa, based in Akiota, Hiroshima, welcomed new life into the world for the first time in January 2025.

This exhibition unveils, for the first time, an installation featuring a large ceramic vessel that encapsulates her past struggles and emotions. Alongside it, she presents her new work, "Egg", created while confronting the profound experience of pregnancy—the act of nurturing life within. Through these works, she weaves a narrative that connects the past, present, and future, embracing the continuum of life.

Shining a light on the artist’s determination and new challenges, this exhibition offers a moment to reflect on the deep connection between life and creation.

HAGW 2025賛同企画
(part of HAGW 2025)

アーティスト日記: TEXT from Artist Diary

わたしが産むときめた　たまご　by小早川智里

二十歳の時、粘土を練っては繋ぎつづけて作った大きな壺。卒業後に制作を続けるアテもなく自信もなかった。

　最後になるだろうから、自分の棺でも作ってみようと思った。自分の人生で起きた良いことも納める棺に。蓋をして最後に卵を乗っけよう。おしまいの棺にはじまりの卵。　そんな大きな壺。

　焼き上がって作りきったと思ったけど、やはりもっと作ってみたいと佐賀県に焼き物を学びに行った。たくさんの制作もしたけど、何よりも豊かな海や山、人やいきものとの出会い、命の営みとその歴史は、自分の殻を破る力になった気がする。

From The Egg, It Begins　by　Chisato Kobayakawa

When I was twenty, I kept kneading clay and joining it piece by piece, shaping a large jar.
I had no plans, no confidence to continue creating after graduation.

So I thought—if this is going to be my last piece, why not make it my own coffin?
A vessel to hold both the good and the bad that had happened in my life.
I would seal it with a lid, and place an egg on top as the final touch.
An egg of beginning on a coffin of endings.
That was the kind of jar it became.

I thought I had finished it all once the piece was fired.
But still, I wanted to make more.
So I went to Saga to learn ceramics.

I made many works there—but more than that,
it was the abundant sea and mountains, the people and creatures I met,
the rhythm of life and the history that flowed through it all—
these gave me the strength to break out of my shell.

photo credit : artist, Chisato Kobayakawa

　広島に帰ってきて、安芸太田町という場所を選んで、制作と暮らを始めた。

　春は桜が豪快に咲いて、夏には川で鮎が泳ぐ。秋は紅葉の布団を踏んで歩き、冬なると涙がでるほど雪が降り積もった。ここでもいろんな人の出会いを通して、笑いながら、迷いながら、葛藤しながら、なんとか制作を続けてきた。

After returning to Hiroshima, I chose a place called Akiōta to begin a new life of creating and living.

In spring, the cherry blossoms bloom in full glory.
In summer, sweetfish swim in the clear river.
In autumn, I walk on a blanket of fallen crimson leaves.
And in winter, the snow piles up so deeply it brings tears to my eyes.

Here too, through encounters with many people—laughing, getting lost, struggling—
somehow, I’ve managed to keep on making.

やがて私のお腹に小さな命がやってきて、

妊娠６週目、３cmにも満たない小さな赤ちゃんのエコー写真の前で産科の医師に、生みますか？と問われた。これから制作はどうなるのだろう。しばらくは作れなくなるだろうか。いつまで？　

いろんな考えが一気に押し寄せたけど、小さなたまごのような我が子を目の前に

はい。産みます。

と答えた。

　新しい命を自分の身体を迎えて、個展の予定が決まり、終わりの壺と称したこの作品をもう一度ちゃんと発表してみようと思った。お腹の赤ちゃんも、少しでも作り続けようという決意も、

あたしが産むと決めたたまごだ。

Soon, a tiny life came to grow inside me.

At six weeks pregnant, standing before the ultrasound of a tiny baby not even three centimeters long,
the obstetrician asked me, “Will you give birth?”

What will happen to my creative work now?
Will I have to stop making things for a while? For how long?
Countless thoughts rushed through me.

But as I looked at that little, egg-like shape of life,
I quietly replied, “Yes. I will.”

With a new life growing inside me, a solo exhibition was scheduled.
And I decided to present once more the piece I had once called “the ending jar.”

The baby in my belly—
and the quiet determination to keep creating, even just a little—
are both eggs I have chosen to bring into the world.

　作品を焼き上げることで、すべてのことを、やって良かったと思えるだろうか。

　木が枝葉を増やして幹が太く大きくなるように。作ることで自分なりの色や形で成長していきたいのだ。

　猫は膨らんだお腹を撫でさせてくれて、山羊は一生懸命喰み、馬は穏やかな顔で大きく尻尾を振った。きっとみんな大丈夫。

Will firing these pieces make me feel that everything was worth trying?

Like a tree that grows broader and stronger as its branches and leaves stretch out,
I want to keep growing—through creating—
in my own colors and forms.

The cat let me stroke her round belly,
the goat chewed the grass with all its might,
and the horse swayed its tail gently with a calm expression.

Surely, everything will be okay.

TEXT credit: artist, Chisato Kobayakawa