59. Shozo Michikawa  道川 省三

Shozo Michikawa was born in 1953 in Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan. He studied at Aoyama Gakuin University and then settled in Seto, where he still lives and works. Shozo Michikawa is known for his unique technique, for turning sharp, dynamic sculptures on the potter's wheel. First, he cuts and carves a solid block of clay, then works it by pressing and turning with a rod and his hands. Natural-looking surfaces are created, just as geological forces with unstoppable energy from within have shaped the earth's surface.  His work is powerful but also warm and soothing, and the earthy colors blend harmoniously with the force with which a large rectangular mass of clay was worked into a dynamic sculpture that looks both massive and swirling. Although rough to the touch, the form and natural glaze give his work a sense of highly refined balance. The strong expressiveness of his sculptures is one of the reasons Shozo Michikawa's work is highly sought after worldwide. He has had many national and international exhibitions and his work has been acquired by the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others.