1. If you were an animal, what would you be?
I have been told that I am like a lion or a cat.
I’ve always liked animal patterns and animal motifs,
and I can’t help collecting them.
I especially like elephants.
It might be because an elephant doing a poo
once made such a strong impact on me.
I remember, the next day, I drew how it looked with crayons.
Me and an elephant. I am a little grown up since then.
Probably at Ueno Zoo.
2. Who inspired you?
I got an art book by Folon when I was in junior high.
I loved basking in his quiet and characteristic world.
In my twenties, I met Tiger Tateishi and his wife Fumiko Ichige,
and I visited their house in Chiba many times.
Unfortunately, Tiger has passed away.
I experienced ceramic art for the first time using a gas kiln he left me.
Later, I bought an electric kiln for myself and
started making objects from pottery, influenced by him.
I started drawing with indigo dye when I was living in Hayama.
All my fellow parent friends were trying to live together with nature,
so I think I was inspired by that.
hgyI was also looking for materials that are harmless to children.
I also like Kiki Smith and Louise Bourgeois.
3. Your family members are all artists.
Tell us how you spend time at home and about your production.
Everyone wakes up and goes to bed on their own time.
It is almost like a sharehouse, but since the pandemic started,
we now have dinner together.
My husband Masaki* comes home for dinner
from his studio that is a 10-minute walk away.
We took turns making dinner last year.
I was always hoping for dinner made by Masaki and my daughter†,
but I ended up making dinner all the time
because they always worked late to deadlines.
I do laundry and relax in the morning.
The afternoon is my time.
I work until I start preparing for dinner.
It’s half household chores and half creation.
Maybe I should have a studio,
but it is hard for me to separate work from my daily life.
I work on ceramics by the side of a simmering pot,
that is why I never see my work as anything more than a hobby.
*Masaki Fujihata, a media artist.
†Komitsu.
4. What kind of feeling triggers creation for you?
How the world and society around me change is far from ideal.
In this sense, creation is a kind of escape from reality or time.
I am able to keep myself calm in this context.
The other day, a few weeks after I stopped working
because a sufficient number of works for this show were completed,
I found myself feeling down.
I told my daughter that there was something wrong with me,
and she said to me, “Work!”
I might be exaggerating, but creation really helps.
That is why I have so many works to present…
but I will select good ones out of them.
5. Tell us about the concept of the show at Kasper.
I will present a selection out of 100 new ceramic works I made during the pandemic,
as well as some past works.
So many things are happening in the world now.
I hope people who come to this show can feel silence and peace, like a deep forest.
