The Delightful Shoko-san

She is our Melbourne-based friend who visits the Philippines every other year, sometimes more frequently, depending on how homesick she is.

Homesick for the Philippines? Yes, she is one of those rare global citizens who appreciates this country—her ties of friendship here are deeper and stronger than in anywhere else in the world where she has lived, including Japan.

Shoko Mafune, 54, is a ceramics artist who can do reliefs, sculptures and tiny utilitarian objects like chopstick rests and bird flutes. She gave us the last on her last visit to Manila in February.

We met up at the lobby of the Peninsula Manila, then moved to the Spices Restaurant for a long, talky dinner with our other friends, Noel Cuizon and Mariano Garchitorena, the hotel’s public relations manager. Garch, as we call him, entrusted the choice of the evening’s meal to Spices’ maitre d’ so we didn’t have to waste precious minutes deciding on what to eat.

Except for the flecks of white on her hair, Shoko is the same, still wishing for that elusive love. I think she is my only friend who can state clearly what she wants on that score, and I admire her for that. I can only say I wish good health for myself so I can spend most of my time painting or looking at pictures and things and thinking how I can turn them into a work that has something to say. My wish is far more modest than Shoko’s.

She is back in Melbourne, Australia, conducting pottery classes. On weekends, she drives to different towns to join craft fairs at churchyards and barns. She sets up a table and puts up her wares. She makes friends this way, too, but admits the quality of her friendships in the Philippines is less superficial.

We agreed to put up a two-person show, she doing bigger works, me doing huge paintings. It was Noel’s idea, actually. He wants to act as curator for this dream show, and he’ll be issuing us the guidelines anyday. He is toying with the idea of correspondence.

Here is Shoko in her own words from her website www.shokoceramics.com

“Working with clay has been closely associated with me at almost every major stage of my life.

“I have played with clay since I was a child. My techniques were developed from learning under a traditional Japanese ceramics master for five years. However, my style has evolved and has been affected by living in different countries and encountering different cultures. Every new confrontation, every new challenge in my life has been translated through my medium of clay. My intention is to attract people to touch (not only look) and interact with my work, and in return I want my ceramics to connect the people together. I hope my art can, even for a slight moment, inspire feelings of delight in people.”

Photo shows Shoko's bird flutes.