Skip to main content
Home Moderne Gallery
  • About
    • Profile
    • Staff
    • Exhibitions
  • Gallery
  • New Acquisitions
  • Collections
    • Collections Overview
    • George Nakashima
    • Wharton Esherick
    • Studio Craft Movement
    • 1920-1980 Design
  • Books
  • Appraisals
  • News
  • Contact

Categories

  • View All
  • Ceramics & Pottery by Makoto Yabe
  • Ceramics & Pottery by David Gilhooly
  • Vanities
  • Benches
  • Buffets
  • Ceramics & Pottery by Karima Duchamp
  • Plant Stands and Jardinieres
  • Tea Tables
  • Sideboards
  • Mirrors
  • Miriam Carpenter Works
  • Desks
  • Sam Maloof
  • Servers
  • Sam Maloof Studio Furniture
  • John Eric Byers Studio Furniture
  • Metalwork & Dinanderie
  • Sconces
  • Hiraoka Junpei
  • Room Dividers
  • Fiber
  • Tanaka Tomomi
  • Beds
  • Caprice Pierucci
  • Fabien Dubrunfaut
  • Shelves
  • Nesting Tables
  • John Lutz Studio Furniture
  • Center Tables
  • Desk Chairs
  • Paul Hultberg Enamels
  • Night Tables
  • Miriam Carpenter
  • Blanket and Sweater Chests
  • Lounge Chairs
  • Art & Sculpture
  • Ceramics & Pottery
  • End Tables
  • Consoles
  • Ceramics & Pottery by Paul Soldner
  • Dining Tables
  • Turned Wood by Ed Moulthrop
  • Turned Wood
  • Chairs & Stools
  • Armchairs
  • David Ebner Studio Furniture
  • Rocking Chairs
  • Dining & Side Chairs
  • Coffee Tables
  • Hanna Silver Fiber and Textiles
  • Bars
  • Settees & Daybeds
  • Glass
  • Sofas
  • Miscellaneous Objects
  • Chests of Drawers
  • Chests
  • Ceramics & Pottery by Peter Voulkos
  • Turned Wood by James Prestini
  • Miscellaneous Rare Items
  • Cabinets
  • Ceramics & Pottery by Estelle Halper
  • Turned Wood by Bill Hunter
  • Lamps
  • Arthur Espenet Carpenter Studio Furniture
  • Music and Book Stands

Back to Studio Craft Movement / Art & Sculpture


Emotion Series; Complex by Hiraoka Junpei, 2020

18h x 14w x 14d in

Painted clay, colored slip | In Japanese the word "complex" is causally used to describe an inferiority complex or closeness. However, I am aware that in psychology, the term refers to certain types of impulses, desires, and attachments. I have titled my work Complex to reference both of these meanings. ​As an adolescent I attended an evening high school program in the outskirts of Tokyo, and there I felt the impacts of poverty and the imbalanced nature of Japanese society. I often thought about how and why societal systems exist and struggled with this reality. As an outlet to express these thoughts, I have drawn from my background in painting and ceramics and developed this body of work. ​As I made these works I thought about what caused my emotional responses and reflected upon my own "complexes." I have come to believe that emotions come from an entanglement of belief systems, personal histories, and interactions with different environments. I have attempted to express this mental process of self reflection through my work as "decomposing → re-recognizing → reconstructing." ​I use the plasticity of clay to express an instinctive, abstract, organic, and constantly changing form of emotion. Then, I carefully coat the body with coloured slip. This process is where I reconstruct my emotions rationally by intentionally controlling the material, colour, and texture by layering slip. ​I believe that such processes, shapes, and colour combinations can express the complexity and accumulation of emotions that lead to such "complexes." By presenting these ceramic forms of layered slip, I hope to provoke an emotional reaction from the viewer, perhaps opening a window to their own inner emotions.

> Request Information

  • •

Appraisal Services

Since 1985, Moderne Gallery has provided insurance, sales and estate appraisals for the work of George Nakashima, Wharton Esherick, Sam Maloof, Peter Voulkos, Toshiko Takaezu and most other artists from the Studio Craft Movement.

Submit Items For Appraisal

About / Collections / Books / Appraisals / News / Contact

Moderne Gallery

2220 E. Allegheny Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19134 Phone: 215-923-8536 Fax: 215-923-8435

© 2023 Moderne Gallery / Contact Us