Akiko Hirai | Things That Disappear When Touched

Akiko Hirai explores the delicacy of getemono, things seen as odd or grotesque, in new stoneware with reduction firing: scratches, scars and uneven glaze held on the boundary of ugly-beauty. About For Things That Disappear When Touched , Akiko Hirai began working with a more plastic, lighter-coloured stoneware and new reduction firing cycles. The reduction still brings depth to the clay and glazes, while the finished work has a slightly brighter presence. She moved away from her usual raku clay to let the natural movement of the clay show. When she throws a tall form, the centre shifts as she works the top or the bottom, so a single pot holds several centres. Grog drawn to the surface by shrinkage adds texture, and iron breaks through the slip as speckles. The surfaces bear scratch marks, scar-like traces and uneven patches of glaze. On their own, each is a fault. Together, they create an atmosphere Hirai can’t quite name. The title refers to getemono (ゲテモノ), things seen as odd or grotesque, outside conventional taste: a fragile balance that the slightest touch could bring down. “This exhibition explores objects that express a quiet equilibrium: fragile, shifting forms that exist in a state of delicate imbalance. Their stillness is easily disturbed, as if the act of holding too tightly might cause something essential to disappear. The works reflect an interest in forms that resist perfection, remaining slightly unresolved, unsettled, and quietly alive.” Akiko Hirai Akiko Hirai produces both practical and decorative ceramic ware. Her Japanese cultural background and aesthetics strongly influence her work, while her pieces are also rooted in contemporary design. Her work is held in private collections and displayed in museums worldwide, including the V&A, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the National Museum of Ireland and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY. Read more Toggle Crafts