Japanese Tea Ceremony Opens Sundog Gallery’s ‘Ritual Vessels’ Exhibition

Key Points

• Sundog Gallery has opened its Ritual Vessels exhibition, bringing together ceramic artworks influenced by Japanese and Korean traditions.
• A traditional Japanese tea ceremony, known as Chanoyu, provided the setting for the exhibition’s opening, introducing visitors to the cultural and artistic significance of tea preparation.
• Sochi Nomoto, an experienced Chanoyu instructor who has taught for more than 20 years, demonstrated the ceremony and explained its principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity.
• The presentation explored the historical connections between Japanese tea culture, Zen Buddhism, samurai traditions, Christian persecution in Japan and the use of tea ceremonies as symbols of peace.
• Ceramic artist John Bradford created the small bowls used during the demonstration and discussed his decades of experience working with clay, including lessons from his time in Japan.
• Brandie Bradford and Jamille Cucci, both associated with Sundog Gallery, also presented work in the exhibition, drawing on their experiences with ceramics, wood-fired kilns and Asian artistic traditions.
• The participating artists include Scott Roberts, Scott Rutherford, Miki Carlini, Janet Lever-Wood, Chyako Hashimoto, Rob Lamb, Charles Morrison, Kazuya Ishida, Margaret Curtis, Pann Ceramics and Chandler Dayton.
• The exhibition connects the practical experience of a traditional tea ceremony with the artistic qualities of handmade ceramic vessels, including the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which recognises beauty in imperfection and decay.

Japan Daily Sun (JDS) October 13, 2026 – Sundog Gallery has opened its Ritual Vessels exhibition, introducing visitors to ceramic art through a traditional Japanese tea ceremony led by instructor Sochi Nomoto. The presentation brought together Japanese cultural practices, handmade pottery and contemporary artistic expression, with ceramic artists John Bradford, Brandie Bradford and Jamille Cucci among those featured in the exhibition. The event also explored the historical significance of tea ceremonies and their association with mindfulness, craftsmanship and peace. Participating artists draw inspiration from Japanese and Korean ceramic traditions, reflecting the gallery’s interest in art, travel and cultural exchange.

What happened at Sundog Gallery during the opening of ‘Ritual Vessels’?

Sundog Gallery welcomed visitors to an exhibition of ceramic works, with a traditional Japanese tea ceremony providing a central feature of the opening programme. The gallery was filled with natural light as attendees moved around the space, viewing ceramic pieces displayed on shelves throughout the venue.

At approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sochi Nomoto addressed a gathering of around 30 people. Wearing a pink and blue kimono, she invited visitors to assemble for a demonstration of Chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony.

The event offered an introduction to the cultural practices associated with tea preparation while establishing a connection between the ceremony and the ceramic objects on display.

Rather than treating pottery solely as a decorative medium, the presentation demonstrated how bowls and other specialised equipment can have practical, aesthetic and cultural significance.

Nomoto explained the principles behind the ceremony before guiding attendees through its different stages. The demonstration included the preparation of matcha, the cleansing of the equipment and the careful handling of hot water.

The tea ceremony also introduced visitors to the relationship between traditional Japanese rituals and contemporary ceramic practice. The bowls used during the event were created by John Bradford, a ceramic artist who works as a manager at Sundog Gallery.

The ceremony served as an introduction to Ritual Vessels, which is now open to the public, according to the supplied news report.

Who is Sochi Nomoto, and what does she teach about Chanoyu?

Sochi Nomoto is a Chanoyu instructor with more than two decades of teaching experience. She began practising the ceremony when she was 11 years old and later received the name Sochi upon attaining teacher status.

Nomoto teaches both in-person and virtual classes, dividing her time between California and Durango. Her teaching programme runs over 10 weeks, giving students an opportunity to learn the ceremony through a structured course.

During the Sundog Gallery presentation, Nomoto introduced visitors to matcha, a powdered green tea traditionally prepared by whisking the powder with hot water.

A show of hands revealed that only a small number of attendees had previously tasted matcha without the sweeteners and additional ingredients often used in modern coffee-shop drinks.

Nomoto also discussed the health concerns that some of her students bring to their studies. According to the supplied report, several students are concerned about dementia, while others have survived heart attacks, strokes or cancer.

Her comments formed part of the explanation of why people may be drawn to the ceremony, particularly its emphasis on concentration and being present in the moment. The report does not establish that the tea ceremony or matcha treats or prevents these medical conditions.

For Nomoto, the practice involves more than preparing and drinking tea. Its formal movements encourage participants to pay attention to the objects, actions and people immediately before them.

What are the four principles of the Japanese tea ceremony?

Nomoto explained that Chanoyu is based on four principles: harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity.

Each principle contributes to the ceremony’s structure and meaning.

• Harmony: The ceremony brings together the participants, the setting, the utensils and the preparation of tea in a coordinated experience.
• Respect: Attention is given to the people involved and to the objects used during the ritual.
• Purity: Cleaning and preparing the equipment form part of the process, reflecting the importance of care and order.
• Tranquillity: The measured pace of the ceremony encourages concentration and reduces the distractions associated with everyday activity.

These principles help explain why the tea ceremony was an appropriate introduction to an exhibition focused on ceramic vessels.

The equipment used in Chanoyu is not simply functional. Its shape, surface, weight and handling contribute to the overall experience. The choice of a bowl and the manner in which it is presented can therefore form part of the ceremony’s artistic expression.

Nomoto summarised this relationship by telling the audience, “We’re in an art gallery. The tea equipment is considered art.”

The statement connected the traditional ritual directly to the exhibition, where ceramics were presented as both objects of use and works of artistic craftsmanship.

How did Japanese tea culture develop through religion and samurai traditions?

Nomoto traced the origins of Japanese tea culture to the historical connections between Japan and China.

According to her explanation, tea was brought to Japan by Japanese priests who travelled to China for their studies. In its early use, tea served primarily as a means of staying awake.

The practice subsequently developed into a more formal ritual. Nomoto credited Sen no Rikyu with developing the Japanese tea ceremony and explained that it became associated with the samurai warrior class through its relationship with Zen Buddhism.

The historical connection between tea and the samurai gave the ceremony significance beyond its immediate purpose of preparing a drink.

Nomoto described how samurai performed tea ceremonies before going into battle. She also explained the importance attached to individual tea sets, recounting a tradition in which the destruction of a defeated lord’s tea equipment represented a final act against him.

These accounts illustrated the symbolic importance that tea utensils could acquire within particular historical and social settings.

The ceremony’s equipment could represent status, identity and cultural inheritance. Its destruction, in the context described by Nomoto, symbolised the loss associated with defeat.

For the Ritual Vessels exhibition, this history provided a broader context for the ceramic objects on display. Bowls and other vessels could be understood not only through their physical qualities but also through the traditions and meanings associated with their use.

What connection did Nomoto describe between tea ceremonies and Christianity in Japan?

Nomoto also discussed a more complex period in Japanese history involving the persecution of Christians.

She explained that the tea ceremony changed in certain contexts as Christianity entered Japan. According to her account, some converted lords used the ceremony as a way to conceal the practice of Communion during a period when Christianity was prohibited.

The report identifies Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the regent who outlawed Christianity and notes that crucifixion was among the punishments associated with the prohibition.

Nomoto told the audience, “So, the converted lords hid Communion in tea ceremony.”

She further explained that some elements of the ceremony appear in groups of three, which she associated with Christian symbolism. She also said that it is thought that Sen no Rikyu himself was a hidden Christian.

These points were presented as part of Nomoto’s historical explanation during the event. The supplied report does not provide independent documentary evidence establishing Rikyu’s religious identity, so that detail should be understood as an account of the interpretation she shared rather than a settled historical conclusion.

The discussion nevertheless demonstrated how cultural practices can acquire additional meanings as they move through different historical circumstances.

In Nomoto’s account, the ceremony could serve as a setting for religious expression as well as an established artistic and social tradition.

Why did Nomoto connect the tea ceremony with peace after the Second World War?

Nomoto discussed the use of tea ceremonies by Japanese pilots before their flights during the Second World War, including pilots involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

She explained that the head of her tea school made a commitment after the war that the ceremony would never again be performed in circumstances not dedicated to peace.

Nomoto also shared a family memory involving her Japanese grandmother, who destroyed the family’s tea ceremony equipment and buried it in the backyard after the war ended.

According to Nomoto, her grandmother said, “My grandmother said the Japan we know no longer exists, and they buried all the ceremonial things.”

Nomoto connected the act to the earlier tradition of destroying a defeated lord’s tea equipment, suggesting that the destruction of the family’s ceremonial objects represented a response to the end of a familiar world.

The account gave the ceremony a personal dimension, linking historical events to the decisions made by individual families.

It also explained why peace was an important theme in Nomoto’s presentation. The tea ceremony, in this context, was not simply a tradition preserved unchanged across generations. Its meaning could be reconsidered in response to war and its consequences.

The post-war commitment described by Nomoto placed an explicit emphasis on peaceful practice.

At Sundog Gallery, that history added another layer to the relationship between ritual, objects and memory. The equipment used in a ceremony can preserve traditions, but it can also become a symbol of the historical experiences through which those traditions have passed.

How can the Japanese tea ceremony encourage mindfulness and concentration?

Nomoto identified stress and the tendency to multitask as two reasons why the tea ceremony may be relevant to Americans.

She explained that the ceremony requires participants to focus on the immediate activity rather than allowing their attention to move constantly between different demands.

“It forces you in the moment. It makes your brain think about only what’s in front of you, and that causes calmness,” she said.

The demonstration reflected this principle by breaking the preparation of tea into a series of deliberate steps. Attendees watched as Nomoto cleaned the equipment, prepared the hot water and whisked the matcha.

The sequence required attention to both the actions themselves and the order in which they were performed.

Participants also learned how the tea is traditionally consumed. After the matcha was prepared, they ate a traditional Japanese mochi dessert before drinking the tea.

The combination of the sweet dessert and the slightly bitter matcha was described as representing yin and yang. Participants drank the tea in approximately three sips, ending with a slurp to indicate that they had finished.

The structured process made the demonstration participatory rather than purely observational. Attendees were able to experience the ritual directly, following Nomoto’s instructions as they tasted the tea.

Although Nomoto discussed calmness as an important feature of the practice, the event report does not provide clinical evidence that participating in Chanoyu produces specific medical or psychological outcomes. Its documented emphasis was on concentration, cultural learning and the experience of performing a traditional ritual.

How does John Bradford’s ceramic work connect the exhibition with Japanese traditions?

John Bradford created the small bowls used during the tea ceremony at Sundog Gallery. Other examples of his ceramic work were also included in Ritual Vessels.

Bradford said that he began his journey in ceramics in 1992. Reflecting on the time he had spent working with clay, he remarked, “I’ve been doing it for 34 years, and I don’t even feel like I’m 34.”

Bradford initially studied chemistry, but a pottery class changed his professional direction. He later opened a pottery shop in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, in 2004.

Before joining Sundog Gallery, he ran the Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg, Florida.

His experience also includes building a kiln in Japan, where he encountered ceramic traditions that influenced his understanding of the medium.

Bradford described the experience as “incredibly eye-opening” and spoke about wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic associated with beauty in imperfection, impermanence and decay.

The concept offers a way to appreciate ceramic work that does not depend on flawless symmetry or an untouched surface. Variations in shape, texture and finish can contribute to the character of an object.

This approach is particularly relevant to ceramics, where the interaction between clay, heat, glaze and firing conditions can produce distinctive results.

The bowls Bradford made for the tea ceremony also demonstrated how ceramic objects can connect artistic design with everyday use. Their role was practical, but they also formed part of a traditional cultural experience.

His work therefore provided a direct link between the gallery’s exhibition and the ceremony that introduced it.

What does Brandie Bradford’s experience reveal about working with ceramics?

Brandie Bradford, who manages Sundog Gallery alongside her husband, John Bradford, began working with ceramics approximately seven years ago.

Her work is also featured in Ritual Vessels. During the exhibition opening, she discussed the process of firing pottery in a wood-fired kiln and the time involved in that method.

According to Brandie, a wood-firing session can take between 13 hours and three days, depending on the process.

Wood-fired ceramics involve sustained attention to the kiln and the conditions under which pieces are fired. The process can influence the surface, colour and appearance of finished objects.

Brandie also described the personal experience of working with clay, explaining how it can shift her attention away from excessive thought and towards physical activity.

“When my hands start doing the thinking, my brain turns off,” she said. “You move into your body and out of your brain.”

Her comments echoed Nomoto’s explanation of the tea ceremony, particularly the emphasis on concentrating on the activity taking place in front of the participant.

The two practices differ in their techniques and cultural backgrounds, but the event highlighted a shared emphasis on deliberate action.

In the tea ceremony, participants focus on preparing and serving a drink. In ceramics, the artist works directly with clay, shaping and handling material through a physical process.

Both experiences formed part of the exhibition’s wider presentation of art as something that involves time, attention and direct engagement with materials.

How does Jamille Cucci incorporate Japanese and Korean influences into her work?

Jamille Cucci, who opened Sundog Gallery with her partner, Dominique Falkner, a little over a year before the reported event, is another artist featured in Ritual Vessels.

Cucci began learning ceramics in 2021. John Bradford helped her build a wood-fired kiln in Mancos, providing a connection between the artists represented at the gallery and the practical infrastructure needed to produce ceramic work.

Cucci said that she and Falkner share an interest in travel and art, influences that have helped shape the gallery’s direction.

Her own work draws heavily on Japanese and Korean ceramic traditions. Although Japanese ceramics were an early focus, Korean pottery has become increasingly prominent in her pieces, particularly styles associated with the Joseon era.

Cucci has travelled to South Korea to learn from local artisans and was preparing for another trip during the period described in the report.

Her approach illustrates how artistic influences can develop through direct exposure to different traditions and through engagement with practitioners.

The presence of both Japanese and Korean influences also broadens the exhibition beyond a single national ceramic tradition. The works bring together different artistic references while remaining part of a shared exhibition centred on vessels and their cultural significance.

The supplied report does not specify the individual pieces contributed by Cucci or provide details of the techniques used in every work. However, it establishes that her interest in Asian ceramics is a significant part of her artistic practice.

Which other artists are participating in the ‘Ritual Vessels’ exhibition?

Alongside John Bradford, Brandie Bradford and Jamille Cucci, the exhibition includes work by several additional artists.

The participating artists named in the supplied report are:

• Scott Roberts
• Scott Rutherford
• Miki Carlini
• Janet Lever-Wood
• Chyako Hashimoto
• Rob Lamb
• Charles Morrison
• Kazuya Ishida
• Margaret Curtis
• Pann Ceramics
• Chandler Dayton

The breadth of participation places the three artists discussed during the opening within a larger group of ceramic practitioners.

The report identifies the participating artists but does not provide individual biographies or descriptions of every contribution. It would therefore be inappropriate to attribute particular techniques, materials or cultural influences to each participant without further information.

Nevertheless, the exhibition’s focus on ritual vessels provides a common framework for presenting a range of ceramic works. The Japanese tea ceremony offered visitors a practical demonstration of how vessels can function within established cultural traditions, while the surrounding exhibition allowed them to encounter ceramics in a gallery setting.

The relationship between demonstration and display was central to the opening event. Visitors could observe the use of particular bowls during the ceremony and then consider the wider artistic possibilities represented by the ceramics on show.

Why does ‘Ritual Vessels’ bring together cultural tradition and contemporary ceramic art?

The exhibition’s opening programme linked three related subjects: traditional Japanese tea culture, the craft of making ceramics and the contemporary presentation of art.

Nomoto’s demonstration established the cultural context. Her account explained how vessels and utensils are incorporated into Chanoyu and how the ceremony has been shaped by historical, religious and social experiences.

Bradford’s work connected that context with the practical production of ceramic objects. His bowls were used during the demonstration, while his wider experience offered visitors insight into the development of his artistic practice.

Brandie Bradford’s discussion of wood firing introduced another aspect of the craft, including the time involved in producing ceramic work and the relationship between physical activity and concentration.

Cucci’s references to Japanese and Korean pottery added an international dimension, reflecting the influence of travel and direct learning from artisans.

Together, these elements provided a framework for understanding ceramics as more than finished objects. The pieces on display were connected to techniques, traditions, personal experiences and the settings in which vessels are used.

The event also offered visitors an opportunity to engage with those connections directly rather than encountering the objects solely through written descriptions.

By placing a tea ceremony at the centre of the opening, Sundog Gallery presented ceramic vessels in a context where their function and appearance could be experienced together.

Background: What is the cultural significance of Japanese tea ceremonies and ceramic vessels?

The Japanese tea ceremony, commonly known as Chanoyu, is a formal practice centred on preparing and serving matcha. Its procedures include the handling of specialised utensils, the preparation of tea and the observance of established forms of conduct.

As Nomoto explained during the Sundog Gallery event, the ceremony is associated with harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity. These principles help shape the way participants approach the setting, the equipment and one another.

Ceramic bowls have an important role within this practice because they are used directly in preparing and consuming tea. Their design and handling contribute to the experience, making pottery relevant to both the practical and artistic dimensions of the ceremony.

The exhibition also draws attention to wabi-sabi, an aesthetic concept Bradford discussed in relation to his experience in Japan. Although the concept has a broader cultural and philosophical context, it is often used to describe an appreciation of imperfection, impermanence and the effects of time.

The history shared by Nomoto further demonstrated that tea ceremonies can carry meanings beyond the preparation of a drink. Her account connected the practice with Zen Buddhism, samurai traditions, religious persecution and the consequences of war.

The family story about her grandmother’s buried tea equipment added a personal example of how historical events can affect the objects people preserve and the traditions they choose to continue.

Ritual Vessels brings these cultural references into a contemporary gallery environment. Its opening programme combined a traditional demonstration with work by artists whose practices reflect different experiences, methods and influences.