Kaneshige Kōsuke made this piece by draping sheets of combed clay over an open, diamond-shaped ceramic box. Though the work is rigid to the touch, it looks flowy, pliant—like clothing. This sculpture is part of a series named for sacred garments. The artist asks us to consider what happens when a saint disrobes? Are their garments possible to render in a material that comes from the earth itself? Kaneshige works in Bizen, one of Japan's most revered centers of stoneware production. He learned from his father, Tōyō, a Living National Treasure. The toasted brown of the sculpture resulted from using a more refined local clay that, when fired, behaves less unpredictably than the coarser variety championed by his father.

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