Kaori Kurihara

Ceramicist

©VincentNageotte

©Kaori KURIHARA

At once realistic and dreamlike

Kaori creates her own nature through ceramics
She works the clay without using any geometric tracing tools
She was awarded Prix de la Jeune Création Métiers d’Arts 2015

“Form and order, such as in the Golden Ratio, speak to me and attract me visually. This beauty instills a sense of comfort, in how we fit in nature, and it is this feeling of comfort that I wish to represent and share.” In her series of poetic ceramics, Kaori Kurihara creates sculptures that are at once realistic and inspired by her magical imagination. Initially inspired by the durian fruit, she explores the shape of this Asian plant in her sculpting, “creating the shape by introducing an order from nature.” Kaori learned the art of ceramics at Seika University in Kyoto and pursued her education by studying jewellery making in France. Her wide-ranging field of knowledge allows her to subtly mix techniques, such as enamelling her very detailed ceramic sculptures.

Interview

©VincentNageotte

©VincentNageotte

When and how did you actually start?: I was hesitating between being a ceramicist and a jeweller. In 2015, I was awarded Prix de la Jeune Création Métiers d’Art with my ceramic creation. Thanks to the exhibitions concerning this prize, I had many orders for a year. I decided then to start this path seriously.
What are your main sources of inspiration?: I am interested in geometric shapes in nature and their natural repetition. Each element seems to repeat itself but never in quite the same way. These regularities and irregularities make me feel a great vitality. I create pieces that are both realistic and dreamlike, that are my vision of nature.
How would you define your approach to clay?: The definition changes through the working process. During the making, I feel at one with the piece, I sense it. Once finished, my objects are independent. They are here thanks to our shared sensation. I know them well, and they know me well. I feel that there is a mass of my senses in a place other than my own body.
What makes a well made object to you?: I want the finished work to be self-sufficient, so I create it between the conscious and the unconscious, or rather, I make the shapes and colours respond to the wishes of the work itself. If I look at the final work and I don't remember doing it myself, I feel I have succeeded in doing it in the most ideal way.

Kaori Kurihara is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2015