Kintsugi: More Than Repairing Pottery

Many, if not most, of us have used glue or tape to repair cracked pieces of china, pottery, glass and it served us well… sometimes.

There is another, more thoughtful process to consider: kintsugi. Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese form of repairing broken pottery. It is both a philosophy and an art. The deeper meaning of the repair work is based on the idea of wabi-sabi, which is about accepting imperfections, not simply discarding what seems no longer valuable. The art itself is about actually enhancing the imperfections with gold paint mixed with lacquer.  Kintsugi workshops took place at the Pasadena Village Community Room on 11/1 and 11/7.  

We have learned in the past few months that our lives are fragile, and a disaster brings with it cracks, both metaphorically and realistically. Some struggle with emotional loss, others with physical loss, both of which cause cracks in some way. These workshops however, were not about the fire; they were all about looking at brokenness through the lens of art. Enter Dr. Anna Yu Lee, founder and consultant at Concierge Mental Health, who guided us through this amazing exercise of the technical aspects of kintsugi while also helping us settle into the experience with deep breathing and quietness, saying, “thoughts and emotions come into play during the mending process.”  

Many Villagers who attended the workshops had specific pieces they treasure that they wanted to repair using the principles of kintsugi. Stuart Sigman stated, “The day of the workshop was the day I handed in my Village membership form. I had read about kintsugi in an arts magazine and, having a piece of African pottery in need of repair, I had begun to explore resources. I was delighted that the Village was offering this workshop. I learned a lot - especially, not to begin with the pottery piece I wanted to repair. Instead, the instructor encouraged me to practice the skill a bit more before tackling a cherished and permanent piece. I've already bought additional epoxy and mica to practice with. I hope the Village will consider similar workshops in the future.”

There is a paradigm that seems to exist regarding cracks (in our lives as well as our objects). While Rumi the poet suggests that “the wound is the place where the light enters you,” kintsugi teaches us that to fill the cracks reminds us of our imperfections. In reality, both of these approaches are in harmony… allow the light in and paint it with gold to remind us of our resilience.