Kintsugi with Au and Mary

Our very dear friends Au and Mary invited us to join them at the Japanese Garden Sunday afternoon to see the kintsugi exhibit. They are such good fun, we went because we wanted to spend time with them, thinking we knew all about kintsugi. It was as much delight being with them as we expected, but the kitsugi blew us away. Naoko Fukumaru has taken kintsugi to a whole other level. 

She has restored Roman amphorae, pre-Columbian vases, and ancient jewelry as well as sea creatures and twentieth-century pieces. But what moves me most is a series she calls "Born this Way--Unwanted," (see Extra) which is her own sculpture using kintsugi combined with driftwood, metal, and unlikely objects. The story is that she was a second girl child, damaged and unwanted because of her gender. The pieces in this series were "unwanted" and discarded because of imperfect kiln firing or flaws. She combines these "rejects" with other flawed or unwanted objects to make gorgeous new sculptures.

What a great day! Au, Mary, Sue (who in this photo is regaling them with stories of her raft trip on the Colorado River), and the work of Naoko Fukumaru in the Japanese Garden.