80. Yuki Ando 安藤 祐輝

Yuki Ando was born in Aichi in 1988, but currently lives and works in Shigaraki. He studied art education and ceramics at Aichi University of Education, where he graduated in 2014. He then worked as an instructor at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park and was involved in training many artists while simultaneously working on his own practice. Yuki Ando's work is characterized by soft, organic forms in vibrant, bright colors interspersed with soft pastel-like tones. He draws his inspiration from natural formations such as limestone caves, as well as modern activities such as Rock Balancing (also called stone balancing or stacking), which involves stones, often precariously stacked on top of each other. It is a form of recreation or artistic expression that became popular worldwide in the 2010s thanks to social media. The colors give the impression of being inspired by pop art, but given Yuki Ando's age, it seems more likely that it was inspired by the cuteness culture, or kawaii aesthetic (可愛, kawaii: "beautiful," "sweet" or "cute") that has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture. Consequently, as we can say, his works closely reflect modern times in both form and color. Yuki Ando's work has been exhibited in prominent galleries in Japan, including the Mitsukoshi Art Gallery in Tokyo, the Meguro Gallery of Ceramics in Mie and Shirotori Japanese Garden in Aichi. Recently, Yuki Ando's work has also been exhibited in the United States at Ross+Kramer Gallery in East Hampton (2021) and at the Independent Art Fair, New York (2022).