Shaping Clay: Women artists in contemporary Japanese ceramics at Dai Ichi Arts, New York
May 21 – June 4, 2026
Dai Ichi Arts is pleased to present a summer group exhibition presenting contemporary women artists working in the ceramic medium, presenting new works by prominent and established artists alongside new rising voices in the landscape of Japanese ceramic art.
Since the 1950s, ceramic artists in Japan have gained increasing recognition, with many devoting themselves entirely to the medium through studio pottery practices, and the craft cultures of Shokunin (職人). For centuries, however, the field of ceramics in Japan remained overwhelmingly male-dominated, and women were largely excluded from key aspects of production. Often ingrained Shinto beliefs surrounding ritual impurity, alongside cultural systems of hereditary apprenticeship and succession, prohibited women from tasks such as kiln firing, limited their participation within traditional ceramic communities, with historically celebrated exceptions.
Meaningful change did not emerge until the post-war period from the 1960s. While women had historically been confined to decorative roles, the decades following the Second World War opened new possibilities for artistic and professional independence. Female ceramists began to challenge established conventions, moving beyond utilitarian and decorative traditions to pioneer sculptural, abstract, and avant-garde approaches to clay. Since then, and alongside the increasing admittance of co-ed university education in Japan during the postwar period, generations of women artists have transformed the landscape of contemporary Japanese ceramics, using clay as a powerful vehicle for artistic experimentation, personal expression, and critical inquiry.
Building upon this dialogue through the current presentations of Radical Clay—a traveling U.S. exhibition highlighting Japanese women artists working in ceramics from the celebrated Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection of contemporary Japanese ceramics—this exhibition continues and expands that conversation. Alongside new works by artists associated with Radical Clay, the exhibition introduces established, emerging and innovative voices whose practices are reshaping the landscape of contemporary Japanese ceramics today.
Exhibiting artists: HIRUMA Kazuyo 昼馬 和代, KATO Mami 加藤 真美, KATSUMATA Chieko 勝間田 千恵子, KITAMURA Junko 北村 純子, KOIKE Shoko 小池 頌子, KOYAMA Atsuko 小山 厚子, MATSUDA Yuriko 松田 百合子, OISHI Sayaka 大石 早矢香, SHIGEMATSU Ayumi 重松 あゆみ, SHINGU Sayaka 新宮 さやか, TANAKA Yu 田中 悠, TASHIMA Etsuko 田嶋 悦子, TSUJI Kyo 辻 協, USAMI Shuri 宇佐美 朱理
Contact
info@daiichiarts.com
Dai Ichi Arts Ltd.
18 East 64th Street, Suite 1F
New York, NY 10065
United States
Photography by Yoriko Kuzumi
Captions
- Oishi Sayaka 大石 早矢香, ANIMA bowl (Lion), 2024, accompanied with a signed wood box, stoneware, 6 1/4 × 7 7/8 × 5 1/2 in. (16 × 20 × 14 cm)
- Tanaka Yu 田中 悠, Tsutsumimono, 2018, stoneware with matte glaze, 13 3/4 × 16 1/4 × 16 1/4 in. (34.9 × 41.3 × 41.3 cm)
- Usami Shuri 宇佐美 朱理, Sculpture, TOWA 2, 2026, accompanied with a signed wood plate, stoneware, 16 1/8 × 13 in. (41 × 33 cm)
- Shigematsu Ayumi 重松 あゆみ, Sculpture, Jomon spiral, 2015, stoneware, 14.5 × 12.5 × 13.9 in. (37 × 32 × 35.5 cm)
- Tashima Etsuko 田嶋 悦子, Cornucopia 09-Y12, 2009, stoneware and glass, 8 3/5 × 16 1/2 × 14 1/10 in. (22 × 42 × 36 cm)
- Katsumata Chieko 勝間田 千恵子, (Untitled) biomorphic sculpture, 2011, accompanied with a signed wooden box, glazed stoneware encrusted with chamotte (crushed fired porcelain), 9 1/2 in. (24 cm)
- Shingu Sayaka 新宮 さやか, “Calyx” bowl, with signed wood box, mixed clay with glaze slip, 4 1/8 × 5 3/8 in. (10.4 × 13.7 cm)
- Koike Shoko 小池 頌子, Shell-shaped lidded vessel with white glaze, 1992, accompanied with a signed wood box, stoneware, 11 1/8 × 10 1/8 in. (28.2 × 25.6 cm)
- Kitamura Junko 北村 純子, Flower jar, accompanied with a signed wood box, stoneware, 7 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (19.1 × 16.5 cm)
