Bubbles
Bubbles
Bubbles that exist only because an old bottle was melted down, no two ever quite the same. Each one holds a small beauty: light caught inside glass.
About this theme
The small bubbles floating inside Ryukyu glass carry the history of the island's glassmaking. In a time when raw material was hard to come by, makers crushed whatever old bottles they had on hand and melted them down again. Labels and fine impurities left in the bottles turned to bubbles in the heat, leaving small grains suspended inside the glass. Over time, that uneven texture came to be valued as something unique to Ryukyu glass, and the bubble became one of the techniques makers work with deliberately.
Today, those bubbles become stars, drops of water, or dissolve into the impression of a sea or a night sky. Because no two bubbles form the same way, no two pieces are ever quite alike. The small imperfections once born out of necessity from old bottles have been carried forward, over many years, as a way to reflect Okinawa's scenery and its makers' craft.
Series
A Story about Skill
This series revolves around technique rather than subject. Instead of what is depicted on a piece, the bubbles themselves are a form of expression. Some bubbles scatter like stars, others float like drops of water. The shape varies by maker, and every bubble gives each piece its own distinct character and depth. Because of this, some pieces from the Sea and Nature and Night Sky and Cosmos pages appear here as well, since their bubbles are as much the point as their scene. Where the other series are organized by what a piece depicts, this one is organized by how it was made.