NOBUE IBARAKI • CERAMICIST
SANO • JAPAN 

Nobue Ibaraki creates her work in a tiny home-workshop located in Sano, in the Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo.

Born in Niigata, Japan, she initially studied fashion design at Bunka Fashion College. Shortly before graduating, she happened to visit the Kenkichi Tomimoto Memorial Museum in Nara (now closed), where she was deeply inspired by the renowned ceramic artist and Living National Treasure Kenkichi Tomimoto and his dedication to craftsmanship.

This experience led her to pursue a career in ceramics and she went on to study ceramic design at the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center. After graduating, she worked for a ceramics manufacturer and taught ceramics at junior high schools in Tajimi, while continuing to develop her own artistic practice.

Since 2013, Ibaraki has presented her work across Europe, including in Paris, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. She held solo exhibitions in Sweden in 2018 and in New York in 2019, and has also exhibited extensively throughout Japan.

Ibaraki is influenced by her love of ancient Persian art, and her work blends concepts both Old and New, Western and Asian.

Her vessels are all hand built, making each one "perfectly imperfect", with no two alike. She also draws from a palette of only four colours - white, dark blue, pale blue or pale green, often highlighted with washes of brown.

The metallic aspect of her finishes is the result of the alchemy that occurs during firing - achieved through the chemical reaction of natural glazes containing cobalt or copper and iron rich clay sourced from Tajimi.

Her work is much sought after, in Japan and globally, and she was recently commissioned by Noma, Kyoto, to make dinnerware for this iteration of the restaurant.

Ibaraki's work is very exclusive and we have been waiting patiently for over a year for our current offering. We are now thrilled to be able to present a wide selection of her work - available online and in-store at DEA EAST.