Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
These ceramic lamps are part of Mahoko Dahte's 'Ambient Lights' exhibit at Aegis Gallery.
Artist's backyard a source for her art
By Shari Kaplan
Ceramicist Mahoko Dahte considers clay "a gift from Mother Earth." Following the creed that it is better to give than to receive, Dahte accepts this gift only to transform it and share it with others. That's just what she's doing at Aegis Gallery in Saratoga. Her show, Ambient Lights, runs through March 25.
A native of Tokyo, Japan, Dahte has lived in Cupertino with her husband and son since 1989. She says she loved to look at art when she was a child, and enjoyed drawing and painting. Over the years, she nurtured her creative abilities by studying and teaching in various creatively flavored fields, including ikebana--the Japanese art of flower-arranging; music and calligraphy. She is also a practitioner of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Following several years of study at De Anza College, Dahte now makes her own pieces for use in the ceremonies. That's not all she makes, however. It was one of her roji wall sculptures--visual interpretations of a Japanese garden walkway--that earned an award in a De Anza student art shows.
"Everybody is equal when they walk along the garden path," she says of the message contained in a roji. "I like to put a message in my pieces."
Many of her ceramic wall sculptures and free-standing forms at Aegis Gallery also contain messages. Her celestial pieces possess a sense of wonder achieved through her use of color, shape, space, balance and texture. These include Purity, Bright Earth, Shining Peace, Moon and Earth and her numbered "Universe" series.
"I care about the environment and about peace. If people see that in my work, maybe they'll think more about it," she explains. "I like to bring what's inside [my mind] and bring it out."
Other pieces include painted ceramic globes cut with irregular openings through which light from the hidden bulbs inside can shine. She's also placed two groupings of bamboo-like sculptures against the walls, surrounded by smooth gray river rocks.
The reason Dahte likes ceramics so much is because it makes her feel connected to the earth.
"Ceramics come from clay, and clay comes from Mother Earth. It's something I can touch with my heart," she says with a smile. Some of that clay comes straight from her backyard. "I like to explore what only clay can do, things paper can't. Clay is fragile and heavy when it's fired, but it's easy to correct mistakes when you're working with it."
When firing her sculptures or tea utensils, she uses a traditional anagama kiln, which burns wood for fuel and lends a distinctive glazed surface to her works after they spend seven days in its heat.
Along with her show at Aegis Gallery, Dahte is participating in a group show of the California Association of Clay and Glass Artists through April 30, at Elemental Arts Gallery, 104 University Ave. in Los Gatos. Just last year, she exhibited at many local venues, including Iwasawa Oriental Arts Gallery and Frame-It Art & Design, both in Los Gatos; the Triton Museum in Santa Clara; and the Euphrat Museum in Cupertino.
Aegis Gallery is at 14531 Big Basin Way in the Saratoga Village. Hours are Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 408.867.0171, or visit www.aegisgallery.com on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
