Akiko Hirai
Akiko Hirai's quirky style has become renowned in the London pottery scene. Her creative sensitivity is contained within a quiet elegance, giving each piece a life and spirit of its own. Aside from the 'pond series', which she keeps as a regular feature amongst her works, she is always coming up with new shapes and forms through which her personality shines through keeping collectors of her work enamoured.
A Series of Written Work by the Artist:
Connections
You sometimes find a connection between two or more things that appear to be completely irrelevant. We do not usually try to find these puzzles because they are hidden beyond our consciousness. We do/can not see them as they do not exist, yet occasionally there are events that trigger that sense of connection. It is almost shocking when this sensation is awoken.
i
When it happens, we call it “coincidence”. I believe these coincidences are lead by the incompleteness of the events. In the world of physics, everything moves towards a balanced form and completion, as does our state of mind. When you see something that is not “quite right”, your eyes automatically try to adjust it, to almost make it look right. How do we know the balance? But we do.
So we gather trivial information from our everyday life and store it in a corner of our head. It is so unimportant and small if it exists solely as a fact. However, when it becomes part of something, it all makes sense.
What is the connection between my work and this small piece of writing? I try to put similar thoughts of mine into my ceramic pieces. They should not have a clear message as they are supposed to fit somewhere into the users’ mind.
White Ware
My preference of choosing types of clay when making white ware is the dark and coarse clay most of the time. The whiteness acts as a membrane or a veil. The hints of the true nature of the material appear slightly on the surface. Dark clay which consists of many impurities induces strong chemical changes in heat and the trace of events remains under the veil when it cools down. White, on the other hand, is more stable because of its purity. It is already settled and has a feeling of “stillness”.
Superficially my work appears to be quiet in white. It does not show the rawness of Mother Nature directly. A symbolic figure always looks more perfect than the actual person he/she is. Imagination and fantasy always reinforce the imperfection and achieve the perfection with its own originality.
Therefore the completion of my work is done by the viewers. My work is a creation on its own.
Akiko Hirai's quirky style has become renowned in the London pottery scene. Her creative sensitivity is contained within a quiet elegance, giving each piece a life and spirit of its own. Aside from the 'pond series', which she keeps as a regular feature amongst her works, she is always coming up with new shapes and forms through which her personality shines through keeping collectors of her work enamoured.
A Series of Written Work by the Artist:
Connections
You sometimes find a connection between two or more things that appear to be completely irrelevant. We do not usually try to find these puzzles because they are hidden beyond our consciousness. We do/can not see them as they do not exist, yet occasionally there are events that trigger that sense of connection. It is almost shocking when this sensation is awoken.
i
When it happens, we call it “coincidence”. I believe these coincidences are lead by the incompleteness of the events. In the world of physics, everything moves towards a balanced form and completion, as does our state of mind. When you see something that is not “quite right”, your eyes automatically try to adjust it, to almost make it look right. How do we know the balance? But we do.
So we gather trivial information from our everyday life and store it in a corner of our head. It is so unimportant and small if it exists solely as a fact. However, when it becomes part of something, it all makes sense.
What is the connection between my work and this small piece of writing? I try to put similar thoughts of mine into my ceramic pieces. They should not have a clear message as they are supposed to fit somewhere into the users’ mind.
White Ware
My preference of choosing types of clay when making white ware is the dark and coarse clay most of the time. The whiteness acts as a membrane or a veil. The hints of the true nature of the material appear slightly on the surface. Dark clay which consists of many impurities induces strong chemical changes in heat and the trace of events remains under the veil when it cools down. White, on the other hand, is more stable because of its purity. It is already settled and has a feeling of “stillness”.
Superficially my work appears to be quiet in white. It does not show the rawness of Mother Nature directly. A symbolic figure always looks more perfect than the actual person he/she is. Imagination and fantasy always reinforce the imperfection and achieve the perfection with its own originality.
Therefore the completion of my work is done by the viewers. My work is a creation on its own.
Resume
Employment in relation to ceramics: 2003 Set up Akiko Hirai Ceramics. Joined the studio 'The Chocolate Factory' 2004 - 2013 Kensington and Chelsea College, London Lecturer/Ceramic technician 2013 - to date Kensington and Chelsea College, London Head of ceramics department |
Educational Background: 1989 - 1993 Aichi Gakuin University Faculty of Letters, Aichi, Japan Department of Psychology, Bachelor of Letters 2000 - 2002 University of Westminster Harrow (transferred to St. Martins) BA (Hons) Ceramics 1st & 2nd years 2002 - 2003 London Institute Central Saint Martins School of Graphics and Industrial Design BA (Hons) Ceramic Design |