7. Fujino Sachiko 藤野さち子

Fujino Sachiko was born in Kyoto in 1950. She initially studied fashion and textile design at the Fujikawa Design School in Kyoto, and worked as a fashion and textile designer for the following years before discovering her interest in ceramics. An exhibition of the avant-garde ceramic group Södeisha and an exhibition of women ceramists brought her the conviction that she could achieve a form of expression with ceramics that is not possible with textiles. She then completed training at Tezukayama University with the pioneer of women's ceramics Tsuboi Asuka (see #6), Her background in working with fabrics is reflected in her use of techniques such as folding, shrinking and tucking and in the subtle textural application of color by airbrushing matte slip and occasional colored glaze.

Her work is characterized by fluid, organic forms combined with rigid and stark geometric shapes, which seem to have emerged naturally while working in the soft clay. Each work begins as a geometric base, but while forming the work she is forced ( in dialogue with the soft clay, as she calls it herself) to add curves, which can be found everywhere in nature. Although she does not create direct images of flowers, her work does reflect her lifelong, deep-rooted interest in the mystery of flora.  Her sculptures have a distinctive aesthetic characterized by layers of soft, petal-like folds created in the process of folding inward and unraveling outward, blooming and wilting. The surfaces of her works play with light and shadow, creating subtle hues and tones that are integral to the beauty of the work. 

Fujino Sachiko has received much recognition for her work, and has received numerous awards, Her work has been included in the Kyoto Prefectural Museum, the Walter Arts Museum in Minneapolis, the Faenza International Ceramics Museum, Italy and the Ichon International Ceramics Center in Korea, among others.