Masaomi Yasunaga (b. 1982, Japan) studied under Saturo Hoshino, an artist adhering to the traditions of the avant-garde ceramic group Sodeisha. This post-war tradition’s material and conceptual sensibilities questioned the functionality of classical ceramic artwork, divorcing themselves from Japan’s salon ecosystem. Yasunaga’s practice furthers this framework by challenging the sculptural directive of ceramic forms.

In lieu of clay, Yasunaga sculpts with glaze, pit-firing forms in a combination of sand and other raw materials to produce ceramics that are unique products of their environment. The subsequent excavation of earthenware lends each artwork an organic, found quality— one that echoes the existential nature of being and links their discovery to ceramic traditions through history.