Koinuma Michio

(1936-2020)

Koinuma Michio's work draws inspiration from ancient Chinese and Japanese clay forms. Using the tatara method, which involves flattening plates of clay to create his distinctive, sturdy shapes, Koinuma carves motifs directly onto the clay surface and applies slip to make intricate designs. He mainly uses Shigaraki clay or a type of kaolin clay called gairome, both of which are fired at a lower temperature than regular kaolin.