Akiko's work references the simplicity of Korean ceramics and the principals of Mingei pottery, which connect to the actions and gestures of daily domesticity. She follows the Japanese tradition of wabi-sabi, embracing transience and imperfection, and allowing the clay find autonomy within the making and firing process.
Like Yanagi Muneyoshi, who once found beauty in everyday Korean pots, I hope visitors to this exhibition might also discover something that feels like their own.
Each pot carries a small, quiet gesture.
Perhaps one will stay with you - or perhaps not.
In this collection, the colours and tones of the pots are shaped largely by the firing process.
They emerge from trace minerals responding to the movement of the flame.
Within the kiln, the materials find their own equilibrium.
What may seem slightly off is, in fact, held in balance.
I leave part of the process unconditioned, allowing the elements to decide what they will become.
Akiko Hirai, 2026
Akiko Hirai was born in Shizuoka, Japan and studied at Aichi Gakuin University before moving to London to study ceramics at the University of Westminster and Central St. Martins. She was shortlisted for the LOEWE craft prize 2019, and her work is included in private and public collections including those of The Hepworth Wakefield, the Victoria and Albert Museum London, the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, the National Museum of Ireland, the Keramikmuseum Westerwald Germany, and the Everson Museum New York.