Life has served as the center of leading Japanese ceramic artist Tomoko Konno's creative mind. She enjoys giving her ceramics new life by taking influence from all kinds of organisms from nature, such as sea and botanical creatures that inspire her. Konno says she has no control over the birth of her artworks, they "just seem to materialize from nowhere." Each piece that she creates is an embodiment of her sense of excitement, energy, and anticipation for life as she introduces guests to her "mysterious garden."

Tomoko Konno (b. 1967) lives in the ancient pottery town of Tokoname while maintaining a studio in Bali, Indonesia. In her Bali workshop, art forms resemble exotic plants or sea creatures made in colored porcelain that she exhibits in her installation shows. Konno says that she wishes to express the power of living things and that her ideas “just seem to materialize from nowhere.” Konno is one of a prominent new generation of female ceramicists working in Japan today. The distinct features in her work are the fresh colors, meticulous detailing, and the dynamic flow created with the nerikomi technique. Konno is partial to the nerikomi technique, which she feels is akin to painting with clay in which the medium itself becomes an instrument for painting. She prefers this technique to using brushes for embellishing surfaces, feeling that the lines created by nerikomi are more natural and allow Konno to express her energy and zest for life. Through use of this technique, Konno realizes the flower looking creatures, making them appear more realistic and imaginative and drawing viewers into her mysterious flower garden. While participating in a number of international residency programs, Konno’s work has been housed at collectors’ homes internationally, and a number of museum collections including the Detroit Institute of Arts and Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Japan.

This event is cosponsored by the Detroit Institute of Art.