Keiko Matsui
Keiko moved to Australia in 1999 and completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) degree in 2006 at the National Art School in Sydney. Her work begins in the potter’s wheel and is then manipulated, cut and reassembled to evoke a quiet and subtle abstraction. Making and reinterpreting objects is her focus. She pays particular attention to the form and proportion, the profile or outline of a vessel and the interconnectedness between the interior and exterior.
She had her first solo exhibition at Sturt Gallery in Mittagong in 2012 after exhibiting in many group shows since 2003. Her recent exhibitions include 1000 Vases Dubai Design District Dubai, Impart Manly Art Gallery, New Porcelain Beaver Gallery Canberra, Concave solo exhibition MAY space Sydney and the Australian Ceramics Triennial Hobart Australia. Awards include North Queensland Ceramics Award (Finalist, 2020, 2018, 2016,), Gosford Art Prize (Winner in Ceramics, 2018, 2014, 2012), Vitrify Alcorso Ceramic Award (Finalist, 2013), John Fries Memorial Award (Finalist, 2011) , Small Art Object Prize in Vallauris, France (Winner, 2009), and Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (Viewer's Choice Award, 2008).
“Directly stemming from my Japanese heritage and familiarity with the mending and restoring technique known as Kintsugi, my current work explores the altering and reforming of fine porcelain forms through the cutting and rejoining of sections. Kintsugi itself celebrates the damage and subsequent visible mending that results from the use of important functional objects.
Handwoven fabrics are overtly repaired (with contrasting pieces covering tears and worn areas as patches) while broken ceramics are glued (with lacquer and gold powder used to make such repairs highly visible) a clear celebration of use, breakage and its mending. Such activities are in direct conflict to the rejection of wear and breakage so embedded in my adopted Western culture.
I enjoy working with fine porcelain. It is extremely sensitive and responsive to the human touch when it’s soft. When fired, it becomes translucent and very strong. The nature of clay is endlessly fascinating.
I make a symmetrical shape on the wheel, and then alter the form by cutting and re-joining the parts. When putting the parts together with liquid clay, excess clay pushes out of the joint and makes a line like a human scar. I am drawn to the idea of an organic detail juxtaposed with the consistent lines of the wheeled form. It is like finding imperfection in our everyday.
I seek simple beauty in my work.” - Keiko Matsui, Artist Statement
Contact
keikomatsui.com.au/
info@keikomatsui.com.au
@keiko_matsui_ceramics