Yoko Terai   寺井　陽子

Touching Stone Gallery is privileged to host an exhibition of new work by Japanese ceramic artist Yoko Terai, noted for her graceful, sensitive, and highly original forms that have gained critical acclaims.

Yoko Terai (b. 1972), considered one of the brightest talents among young contemporary Japanese ceramic artists, received her fine art degree from the Department of Ceramic of the Kyoto City University of Arts, where renowned ceramic artist Osamu Suzuki once taught. Inspired by Suzuki's ground-breaking work, Terai devoted herself to finding her personal style. Her graduation work received the Mayor of Kyoto Prize, an honor claimed by few artists of her age. After graduating in 1995, Terai sought apprenticeship under ceramist Nobuo Nojima in Uji City. Her mentor quickly recognized her talents and potential, and encouraged the young artist to pursue an independent career as a full-time artist.

Terai is fascinated by seeing beauty in things ordinary, a gift she inherited from her artist mother and architect father. She has an uncommon ability to capture such beauty with grace and sensitivity, and allow her audience to share her vision. She approaches ceramic from an artist’s angle, using clay as a means to turn her aesthetic visions into forms. Her approach is thus quite different from many other Japanese ceramists who build careers along traditional pottery styles. Not having to conform to traditions gives her complete freedom to explore and create a uniquely personal style.

Shunning the traditional potter’s wheel, Terai starts every project by drawing conceptual designs, and builds each piece by hands. Functionality seems incidental in her work, even though many of her pieces can serve beautifully as vases, platters, etc. When she is satisfied with the general designs, she just set her hands free to mold the curves and surfaces into their final forms as if guided by instinct. The results are organic shapes with graceful curves that seem to flow delicately between positive and negative spaces, revealing the pure essence of forms as one’s eyes follow the lines. Her flowing forms are often simply decorated with shades of monochromatic tones, achieved by applying a thin glaze made from titanium oxide crystals. Overall, the gentle delicate forms, smooth texture and airy hues evoke a noble, unmistakably feminine sensuous feel.

As a dancer herself, Terai is intrigued by the beauty of the human body in motion. Her recent works include unusual forms inspired by the graceful movements of dancers and swimmers. Part of the joy of viewing Terai's exhibitions is to see the interplay between individual showpieces and their harmonious relation with the surroundings. The current show is a perfect case in point. Despite the remarkably diverse forms, the showpieces work together to bring out an exquisite feeling of balance and grace, a quiet testament of the extraordinary gift of this artist.

Since 1997, Terai has exhibited extensively, receiving many awards. She launched her American debut in a solo show in Touching Stone Gallery in 2004, and followed with a solo show every other year. As her work evolves, she never repeats a form. Yet her distinctive style is instantly recognizable. Her new show includes a body of 28 works that epitomize the exquisite sensibility and creativity of the artist.