26. Fukami Sueharu  深見 陶治

Fukami Sueharu was born in Kyoto in 1947. His family ran a pottery workshop in the Sennyuji district where Fukami's father and older brothers Takehisa and Naokatsu focused on fine, hand-painted porcelain for kaiseki ceremonies. That enabled Fukami to focus on developing a personal style by experimenting with different types of ceramics. Fukami specialized in making Seihakuji, celadon and successfully transformed the existing traditional designs into beautiful objects of contemporary art. His sculptures are clean and sharp in outline, but also soft and subtle due to their silky surface and a light blue color with a delicate greenish tint. To create these sharp edges, Fukami Sueharu applies high pressure slip casting techniques in the Seihakuji making process. This skill allows him to transform the traditional age-old style of measurable lines and elegant shapes into modern sculptures. Fukami Sueharu also makes applied art where, in contrast to his larger sculptures, he also works with the potter's wheel. To create flawless surfaces on his functional works, Fukami takes great pains to hide all traces of human hands on his work and the thin blue-green glaze is applied so evenly that it takes on a translucent and glass-like appearance. In both his functional and free work, Fukami Sueharu has gone beyond tradition and has always tried to push the boundaries of ceramics. His minimalist approach to porcelain contributed to the new and growing significance, importance and popularity of contemporary Japanese ceramics outside circular art circles, notably among fine art collectors and museums worldwide.
Sueharu Fukami has won 5 major awards and was named a Kyoto City Person of Cultural Merit in 2008. His work has been purchased in numerous museums worldwide, the British Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.