Fukumoto Fuku

A leading participant in the second generation of female ceramists to change the landscape of contemporary Japanese clay, Fukumoto Fuku draws inspiration from the heavens: the moon, sun, and stars. The soft radiant white of the unglazed porcelain is highlighted by brightly colored, shiny glazes in varying tones of blue ranging from teal to powder blue that cover a single surface of each of the stacked elements. The artist uses the medium as her guide through the artistic process as her forms emerge from a reaction to the behavior of the clay during the throwing process.
Fukumoto originally pursued ceramics to distinguish herself from her parents, both successful textile artists. She explored the world of clay during her undergraduate studies but focused on porcelain during her graduate studies at Kyoto City University of Arts, working under Akiyama Yō, a celebrated ceramic sculptor. Despite her youth, Fukumoto has achieved great recognition for her works, which are held in museum collections in Japan and the United States.

1973 Born in Kyoto
1997 Awarded a B.F.A Kyoto City University of Arts
1999 Received her M.F.A. from Kyoto City University of Arts

Awards:

2001 Grand Prize, Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition
2002 Grand Prize, Kyoto bijutsu kōgei shinnei senbatsu ten (Kyoto Prefecture Art and Craft Selected New Artists Exhibition)
2003 Culture Award by Gotoh Memorial Foundation, Promising New Artist in Art Prize
Winner of the International Ceramic Competition Mino, Gifu
2008 Promising New Artist Prize by Kyoto City
2012 Encouragement Prize, Kyoto Prefecture Culture Award

Selected Collections:

Four Seasons Hotel, Tokyo
INAX Tile Museum, Aichi
Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, KS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Museum of Kyoto
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida. Gainsville
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL