32. Ikura Takashi  猪倉髙志

Ikura Takashi was born in Gifu in 1962 and studied at the Tajimi City Ceramic Design Research Institute, where he graduated in 1989. However, his first solo exhibition did not take place until 2004, which can be explained by the fact that in the intervening period he was mainly involved in the mass production of porcelain tableware produced by the family business. Only later would he focus on individual ceramics as works of art in their own right, combining functional ceramics with sculptural forms that are twisted and curved as if digitally manufactured. The contrast between industrially produced consumer goods and the warmth of the natural world reflects his fascination with the inorganic and the organic. It produces work that is both enchantingly beautiful and tension-filled and captivating. Eye-pleasing because of the high quality at which they were cast as single, thick-walled vessels and then meticulously reduced with knives and planes and then, after firing, polished smooth. It is also very tension-filled work because of the contrast between the clinical coldness of the white porcelain with knife-sharp edges and the swirling movement of its forms. His work in the form of functional work that is never larger than 30 cm looks industrial, almost digital but are made with the most meticulous handwork methods. Ikura Takashi has been selected for numerous exhibitions of modern ceramics and his work is included in the collection va The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and The Victoria & Albert Museum in London.