Kintsugi

Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum; the method is similar to the maki-e technique.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections.

“You won't realize your full potential until you go through the tough times,” Kumai says.

With that said, Kintsugi takes work and awareness in order for it to truly be healing.

In just one piece of pottery, kintsugi teaches us about accepting fragility, building strength and resilience, and taking pride in the imperfect. Things can and do fall apart. Of course, we know that uninvited challenges and mistakes are how we grow, learn, and change, but that truth still doesn't make them any easier.

Spiritual importance:

The spirit of kintsugi is also about forgiveness. It's a practice of self-love. Accepting your cracks means being accepting and loving toward yourself. You must forgive yourself first, before you are capable of forgiving another.

Philosophy of kintsugi:

The art of kintsugi is inextricably linked to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi: a worldview centred on the acceptance of transience, imperfection and the beauty found in simplicity. Wabi-sabi is also an appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature that remind us that nothing stays the same forever.

Use of gold in kintsugi:

The Japanese art of mending ceramics with gold is an old tradition called Kintsugi. It dates back to the 15th century and consists of highlighting the cracks and the breaks in ceramics. With lacquer and gold, the object's scars come to life. They become an ode to the passing of time, to imperfection.

Religious association:

Derived from the principles of Zen Buddhism, wabi-sabi is an aesthetic ideal, a philosophy, an art or a way of life (depending on whom you ask).

Kintsugi: A how to guide

What will you need:

• Broken ceramic object
• Epoxy two part adhesive
• Lollypop sticks
• Plastic work surface
• Gold mika powder

Make sure the broken pieces of ceramic are clean and dry. Put the pieces together loosely so you are aware each piece belongs. This approach works better with one clean break but can also with a small about of pieces (say 2-4).

To attach the pieces together: Mix the two part epoxy adhesive together using the stick and then add a little of the gold mika power. The mix will harden quickly, so once the powder is sufficiently mixed with the epoxy, spread some to one edge of a piece.

If the edge is pretty long then you will have to work quickly as the epoxy will begin to set. You will want to be somewhat generous as when you attach the other piece, some of the epoxy will spill out of the join/seam. You want enough epoxy so that the crack is covered but not so much that it drips out. You should work one or two pieces at a time. This can be a long process so patience is key.

Hold the pieces together until the epoxy hardens, this can take a few minutes. Don't touch the seam as even though it seems dry it can be tacky and you will end up smudging it or leaving prints.

Then when all the pieces have been joined together leave for a few hours (depending on the epoxy instructions) to completely set.

Finding the beauty in imperfection:

Kintsugi makes something new from a broken pot, which is transformed to possess a different sort of beauty. The imperfection, the golden cracks, are what make the new object unique. They are there every time you look at it and they welcome contemplation of the object’s past and of the moment of “failure” that it and its owner has overcome.

The art of kintsugi is inextricably linked to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi: a worldview centred on the acceptance of transience, imperfection and the beauty found in simplicity. Wabi-sabi is also an appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature that remind us that nothing stays the same forever.

Wabi-sabi can also be incorporated into contemplating something and seeing it grow more beautiful as time passes. As a craft and an art form, kintsugi challenges expectations. This is because the technique goes further than repairing an object but actually transforms and intentionally changes its appearance.

In an age of mass production and conformity, learning to accept and celebrate imperfect things, as kintsugi demonstrates, can be powerful. Whether it’s reeling from a breakup or being turned down for a promotion, the fragments of our disappointment can be transformed into something new.

That new thing might not be perfect or be how you had envisioned it would be, but it is beautiful. Rather than try to disguise the flaws, the kintsugi technique highlights and draws attention to them. The philosophy of kintsugi, as an approach to life, can help encourage us when we face failure. We can try to pick up the pieces, and if we manage to do that we can put them back together. The result might not seem beautiful straight away but as wabi-sabi teaches, as time passes, we may be able to appreciate the beauty of those imperfections.

The bowl may seem broken, the pieces scattered, but this is an opportunity to put it back together with seams of gold. It will be something new, unique and strong.