Satoko Kako | Untitled (Chess table), 2022

For HOT MESS, Satoko Kako is presenting a playful yet esoteric constellation of hand-built ceramic objects. Consisting of a fauvistic and brightly coloured chess set along with two richly decorated stools, the installation is a joyful reimagining of the traditionally monochromatic and self-serious aesthetics of the board game.

While the materials of clay, glaze and wood imbue the work with organic and childlike energy, the surreal patterns of the stools and grim faces of the chess figurines invite the viewer through a looking glass into a more fantastical and animistic world. Safeguarding this dreamlike realm is the ancient and supernatural symbol of the Evil Eye, which since classical antiquity has been used as a totem of protective magic. 

Satoko Kako (b. 1983, Tokyo) graduated in 2005 from Joshibi University for Fine Arts and Design in Tokyo and Akademie der Bildenden Kunst München in 2014. Kako has since moved to Berlin to pursue drawings and paintings. Her ceramics are created using hand-building techniques which create spirited and vibrant objects that foreground the enchantment of everyday life.