At first glance Rob Barnard's career reflects the classic immersion of a Western potter into Oriental ceramic practice. Inspired by a raku tea bowl in Bernard Leach's A Potter's Book while a ceramics student, he moved to Japan in 1974 where he lived for five years before returning to the United States to become one of the first American potters to build his own anagama kiln and start wood firing. However, Barnard's initial contact with Japan was not as a potter pilgrim seeking out National Living Treasures; he has never subscribed to the narrow view of Japanese ceramics as the product of an idyllic pre-industrial society. His route was the product of a series of disparate experiences including military service in Vietnam, a Japanese university education and direct contact with Kazuo Yagi (1918-1979) a co-founder of Sodeisha and the most important post-war avant-garde ceramic artist.
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