我首次遇到這個面譜，是在京都一個名為「森之展示室」的活動之中。在那個下雨天，面譜安靜的擱在倒下的樹上，彷彿是森林精靈的化身。後來這精靈來到我家裡，我才發現，它是任何事物的化身，置在桌子上，它就成為桌子的精靈，置在巨石上，它就是巨石的精靈。它擁有著無窮的魔力，置身哪裡，哪裡就富有靈性。
鈴木隆的作品似是來自夢境，又似是來自童書裡。一個茶壼，猶如從繪本裡跑出來，形狀線條與色彩，都似是用畫筆勾劃出來的。立體雕塑的人面有點面目模糊，未必讀得清其眼耳口鼻，卻奇妙地能清楚看到它的表情。鈴木隆的陶藝所建立出來的世界，是一個有點不真實的世界。
多走幾次工藝藝廊，就會明白，要成為受注目的工藝家有一些不二的竅門——創作風格強烈有力，讓人輕易感受到「侘寂」思想的東西。例如以朽木造花瓶；刻意把鐵器造得破破爛爛。鈴木隆也曾想過，是否非如此不可，但始終覺得：「風格很酷的作品總是很受歡迎。大家都憧憬很酷的生活、很酷的人生，但人啊，其實有時就是會很糟糕，有時就是會很想偷懶的。不是嗎？」
有時很懶糕，有時很懶。若鈴木隆造的臉果真是精靈，那定是純真、坦然面對真實自我的可愛精靈。
In an event hosted by the Mori no Tenjishitsu gallery in Kyoto, I saw this theatre mask for the first time. On a rainy day, this mask laid peacefully on a fallen tree just like a timid wood elf. After bringing this elf home, I came to realize its true fluidity; no matter where I place it, be it my desk or a piece of rock, it can easily turn itself into a guardian angel of that very object — it simply brings out the soul of any inanimate object.
The works of Takashi Suzuki are exquisitely dreamy and fairy-tale-like. The teapot he made has a shape and color that resembles that of a color-pencil drawing, it could well be an object directly popped out from a picture book. The three-dimensional theatre mask has rather blurry facial features, but somehow its facial expression is so vivid that cannot be overlooked. Takashi Suzuki uses pottery to create a world distanced from the reality.
After visiting a couple of handicraft galleries, it is not difficult to figure out there is an underlying trick to bring attention to oneself, that is, by creating works that have a strong personality which can remind audience of wabi-sabi. Some quick examples would be to make a vase from junk wood, or to give an ironware a worn-out appearance. Takashi Suzuki had once struggled whether to fall into using the same trick, but then he still believes, “It is easy for cool and stylistic design to gain popularity, as everyone dreams of living a chic life. However, an actual life is one in which there are terrible days, and times when you simply want to slack off. Don’t you think so?”
There are terrible days and times when you just want to slack off. If Suzuki’s mask is indeed an elf, it must be an adorable one that is truly genuine and honest.
