TAKEFUMI AOKI

Takefumi Aoki is a Japanese ceramicist born in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture in 1991. He graduated in 2015 from the Aichi University of Arts before completing his studies at the Tajimi Ceramic Design Institute in 2017. Aoki currently produces his pieces in Toki City in the Gifu Prefecture. He has exhibited in group exhibitions at Mitochu Koeki and Gallery Suki, individually at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, and was the recipient of the Sakazaki Shigeo Ceramics Award at the 2021 International Ceramics Competition in Mino. Drawn to the dignified strength within the delicacy of porcelain, Aoki hopes to synthesise this in works that are unique both to him and to the material he works with.

Aoki utilises delicate and fragile forms to highlight the beauty of porcelain, creating a sense of weightlessness and interplay between reality and illusion that captivates viewers with their exquisite and intricate details. To create his pieces, Aoki squeezes the slightly hard slurry into granules, connects them like a net, and shapes them into cylinders and cones, creating a delicate style of white porcelain that highlights a sense of both strength and fragility.