Katsumata Chieko’s (b. 1950) first solo exhibition in the United States is nearly sold-out even before the official opening. Her exhibition at Joan B Mirviss, LTD presents a highly curated selection of Katsumata’s recent works that evoke a dialogue between form and material. Though the elegant curving lines and rounded lobes of her vessels suggest organic forms – coral, shellfish, and particularly pumpkins – finished with vibrant, gritty surfaces of multiple layers of color and texture. With contrasting mysteriously dark interiors, her sculptures are reminiscent of vessels, evoking both physical and metaphorical dualities. The renowned museum director and critic Kaneko Kenji has expressed that “these darkened cavities evoke a sense of ‘nothingness’ or a ‘perfect void.’ For [Katsumata], the absence or presence of this nothingness is what distinguishes ceramics from sculpture.” Through her creative process process, Katsumata has succeeded in creating masterful “craft-like” sculptures (k?gei-teki-z?kei) that reveal the very essence of her strength and passion.

These natural, biomorphic forms represent the focus of the past 20 years of her work, moving away from functionally driven works, and toward expressive form.

“For me, clay is the ideal material as I search for a means of expression, stepping outside formal functionality to represent physical space and emptiness. It is the manipulation of clay that allows my soul to enter the material, thus also serving as a sensory experience.” (Katsumata Chieko)

Though her earliest training in ceramics came in France via an apprenticeship with the American potter Fance Franck (1931-2008), Katsumata lives and works in both Paris and Kyoto, where she established her first studio in 1978. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of major museums on three continents and has been featured in numerous group exhibitions at museums throughout the world. Highlights of the past decade in western art
museums include major shows at the MFA Boston (2005 and 2008), Musée national de cèramique de Sèvres (2006, 2008, and 2010), Smith College Museum of Art (2009), Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2014-2015) and San Antonio Museum of Art (2015).

A frequent lecturer at universities and ceramics festivals in Japan and Europe, Katsumata is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics and the Japan Society of Oriental Ceramic Studies.

Joan B. Mirviss is the leading western dealer in the field of modern and contemporary Japanese ceramics, and from her NY gallery on Madison Ave., Joan B. Mirviss LTD exclusively represents the top Japanese clay artists. As a widely published and highly respected specialist in her field for over thirty-five years, Mirviss has advised and built collections for many museums, major private collectors, and corporations. ‘)}