[清本源 x Gohobi Gallery] Water Wash Bowl with Inner-Impressed Rubbing Print and Kintsugi Detailing – “Attaining Suchness” Design

This water wash bowl is a contemplative vessel where classical narrative, material truth, and philosophical reflection converge, transforming an object of daily use into a quiet meditation on imperfection and becoming.

The inspiration draws from Journey to the West, an epic that unfolds through imperfection on the path toward awakening. Tang Monk’s rigid sincerity, Sun Wukong’s untamed defiance, and Pigsy’s entanglement with desire are not flaws to be corrected, but the very forces that give the story its vitality. Ancient woodblock prints, with their sharp carving and tensile lines, already carry this spirit of moving forward with fracture and resolve embedded in form.

Through rubbing techniques, the surface of this bowl faithfully reveals the marks left by time on those prints. Knife cuts, softened contours, worn edges, and areas of loss are transferred without embellishment. Kintsugi enters not as disguise, but as affirmation. Gold is applied to acknowledge rupture openly, allowing repair to stand alongside damage rather than erase it. In doing so, the piece becomes a living body marked by experience, rather than a pristine reproduction frozen in the past.

Where imagery breaks or fades, gold lines gently reconnect visual flow, while larger absences are treated with textured gold that suggests atmosphere rather than form. These passages do not attempt to restore what was lost, but instead open space for contemplation. Absence becomes meaning, and incompletion becomes an invitation for the viewer to engage inwardly. In this way, the work reflects the principle that true fulfilment does not arise from flawlessness, but from honest transformation.

The title “Attaining Suchness” speaks to this quiet realization. Suchness is not something acquired by force or perfection, but something revealed when illusion and resistance fall away. Here, rubbing and kintsugi act as translators of time, allowing the artwork to exist truthfully in the present, carrying both damage and care as inseparable aspects of its being.

The generous, rounded form of the water wash bowl provides a sense of grounding and openness. Its scale accommodates brushes or tools with ease, while its depth and curvature invite calm focus. Whether used in a studio setting or placed as a contemplative object, it offers a steady presence that supports mindful practice.

Rim diameter: 16.5 cm
Height: 9.2 cm
Body diameter: 15 cm

The listed price is for one water wash bowl. Each piece is individually handcrafted, and variations in rubbing texture, gold application, and surface character are part of its unique identity. Customers are welcome to request a private video viewing for a closer look. Orders are shipped using reused or recycled packaging wherever possible.

A vessel shaped by time and acceptance—where cracks become witnesses, gold becomes language, and true completion is found not in perfection, but in the courage to let things be exactly as they are.