The piece ‘Hishaku’ was made in the first year of my MA course and draws from a range of traditional Japanese applied arts. Hishaku are ladles used in the tea ceremony, and also outside Shinto temples where visitors use them to purify their hands and faces before entering.

These pieces combine the traditional, vernacular materials of bamboo and rope with blown glass bowls, which have been engraved with patterns inspired by Japanese textile design and woodblock prints. The hishaku are here presented outside their traditional setting, however the harmonious colours and patterns combined with the traditional form complement the setting of the exhibition in Bede’s World museum, Jarrow.