• Sayuri's oceanic creations are made with individually shaped porcelain spikes
• Her work was featured at the Art Institute of Chicago
• She adds Japanese paper fibres into her clay mixtures to strengthen the material

Drawn to the texture of clay, Sayuri Ikake chose to pursue ceramics during her studies at the Kobe Design University. "Although I started my practice by making vessels on the potter's wheel, my approach changed fundamentally during a research residency programme at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park," she says. After enrolling in a summer course at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, USA, Sayuri started exploring hand building techniques. Over time, she developed her own method of attaching spikes one by one using porcelain clay and frit, which allows her to obtain vibrant colours with small amounts of pigment. Sayuri creates organic-like works that evoke aquatic creatures or venomous plants, aiming to captivate viewers by their bright colours and playful energy.