Picking Up the Pieces - Kintsugi


Ceramic Studio Floor, Saskatoon, Nov. 2022

Sm#@SH! I could sense the moment it would fall. It was swift and met its end. Ceramic mass plus gravity was no match for the concrete floor. As I picked up the pieces, I couldn't help myself from carefully fitting them back together. With only a few chips revealed, I momentarily considered gluing the shards in a rescue attempt. But no.

It made me think of the ancient Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold filler in the cracks. It is called Kintsugi. A friend introduced me to it a few years back. It is built on the idea that by embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. It invites us to repair a broken object by emphasizing its cracks with gold, instead of hiding them. The breakage and repair become a part of the object's story and its identity -- part of what makes it special, interesting and valuable.  A similar example is mosaic made from broken pieces of glass or ceramics.  By enhancing the scars, the Kintsugi philosophy goes beyond the art practice -- "it is in touch with the symbolic of healing and resilience."   Your imperfections don't take away from your beauty and worth.
 

Example of Kintsugi. Photo by Kendra - Creative Commons

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