20. Keiko Masumoto 桝本佳子 

Keiko Masumoto was born 1982 in Tatsuno, Hyogo prefeture. She studied ceramics at Kyoto City University of Art where she became particularly interested in bringing together traditional Japanese ceramic craft with fine art concepts, and finding a new balance between functionality and decoration. She subverts the existing ideas and expectations regarding the function of an object such as a vase or a pot, such that the function itself is subordinated to the added form, the decoration .The form and decoration become the main issue, the function is derived from it. This leads to surprising, playful and sometimes surreal objects that invite a closer look at the details because the optical illusion contradicts the viewer's existing ideas.

Keiko Masumoto is now a highly regarded artist, and the high quality and craftsmanship of her work is recognized nationally and internationally through exhibitions and awards. Keiko currently teaches at the Kobe Design University , and was Visiting Artist in residence at University of the Arts in Philadelphia and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London which has also acquired work by her, as well as many other museums including Toyota Municipal Museum of Art and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park.