KISHI EIKO (1948-) Imaginary Landscape 12 Heisei era (1989-2019), 2012Important works of art from an American private collectionKISHI EIKO (1948-)Imaginary Landscape # 12 Heisei era (1989-2019), 2012Slab-built from multicolored Shigaraki stoneware clay, with colored slip inlay and clear glaze, signed on the base in English 2012 May Eiko Kishi with an artist's monogram EiArtist's title card brushed in ink Saiseki zōgan tō no shinshō fūkei (Colored-stone inlay ceramic "Imaginary Landscape"), sealed Ei and signed Kishi Ei 15 3/4 x 26 3/8 x 2in (40 x 67 x 5cm)One of the best-known contemporary female Japanese ceramists, Kishi Eiko has established a global reputation with architectural, linear sculptures that pay homage to the textile traditions of her native Kyoto. She hand-builds her pieces out of more than a dozen multicolored clays, then digs thousands of small depressions that she inlays with colored slip before glazing and firing. The surface of this sculpture looks almost like stone at first sight, but a closer look reveals it to be made up of a myriad of colored inlays.