Born in 1938, Ken Akaji specializes in Kutani- ware, a type of pottery with over-glaze painting, known for its bright, vivid colors and bold varying shapes. Studying under Kutani- ware overglaze director Sōsuke Wata in the 50s, Akaji joined the Kutani-yaki Cooperative Society and subsequently established his own kiln in 1965.
His most recent and first solo exhibition at Ippodo Gallery entitled Spiral (2015) featured mathematically-influenced ceramics, reproducing patterns found in both manmade as well as natural spaces. By concentrating visual semiotics akin to a Fibonacci spiral into physical pieces, Akaji opens up a space in which the viewer can be reminded of similar patterns found in vast forests, galaxies, and even in our own bodies, allowing us to contemplate more about our place (or lack thereof) within the world in the process.
