Finding beauty in broken pieces.

That’s what students from Forest Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener learned Friday at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.

A new exhibit, called ‘Ceramic Stories Revisted’, celebrates the art of kintsugi.

“We took a collection, actually inspired by an artist that’s working in Korea right now, Yee Sookung,” said Melanie Kloet, an art teacher at Forest Heights. “She’s taken the traditional art of Japanese kintsugi, which is the fixing of broken ceramics using gold. Then she’s actually turned them into abstracts.”

The students paid homage to that art form by embracing imperfection.

“My goal was to have something that looked like it could still hold water,” said Ben Watson, a Grade 12 student at Forest Heights, whose work was included in the collection. “There’s some holes and stuff in it, but the idea that it’s still a contained vessel was my inspiration.”

Pottery pieces were donated by local families, artists and community members.

The exhibition is currently on display at the gallery on Caroline Street North in Waterloo.