Kintsugi is a five-hundred-year-old Japanese method of mending damaged ceramics with Urushi natural lacquer dusted with powdered gold, seen as enhancing beauty while celebrating imperfection and impermanence. Kintsugi brings with it a powerful philosophy. Like shattered ceramic, though a person has somehow been broken, they can still rebuild their lives and find happiness and beauty in it. Our healing can be a beautiful part of who we are. With Kintsugi we witness transformations from brokenness to beauty, sometimes more beautiful because they were broken. Much like cracks in ceramics, a person's challenges can be celebrated as important aspects of life, what makes us who we really are.
Naoko Fukumaru, a Kintsugi artist creates traditional and contemporary Kintsugi with her own sufferings, skills, and love. By showing the transition of broken unwanted things into beautiful art we experience a reformation, transformation, and rejuvenation that recognizes, reflects, and inspires a healing journey. Fukumaru’s Kintsugi art allows viewers to be open, and to reflect on self-awareness and acceptance while moving towards building resilience and gratitude that can help heal ourselves and the world. Suffering and flaws are integral parts of our identity, elements that shape our history and uniqueness. By beautifully magnifying imperfections in objects, these Kintsugi works lead us to accept fragility and imperfection in ourselves and in life.
Her work respects the traditional materials and aesthetics of Kintsugi but also uses creative innovations to expand conventional Kintsugi ideas towards all cultures and eras while pushing the boundaries of techniques and materials with an approach uninhibited, instinctive, and inspirational. By celebrating imperfection and impermanence in life Fukumaru explores what it means to be beautifully broken. She connects broken fragments, people, herself, spirits, and the world.
