KOICHI ONOZAWA

Koichi Onozawa is a successful studio ceramicist from Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture. He grew up in Tokyo, where he studied economics, and soon turned his hand to ceramics. He continued his education and pursued this new interest at a well-known ceramic school in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, from which he graduated in ceramic design in 2008. During his time in Tajimi, Koichi was particularly drawn to ceramics from the Momoyama period and various Korean works, which formed the inspiration for his decorative vases and bowl-like vessels. 

Since 2011, Koichi has lived with his partner, Noriko, in rural Nakagawa. Here, traditional and local pottery trade is driven by the growth of rice in the region, influencing him to create more functional ware. In nearby Ōtawara, Japan’s earliest archaeological excavation activities revealed artefacts from the Kofun period (c. 300–700 CE), which equally fascinates him. Koichi experiences great reverence for nature and what has come before him, and is motivated by a desire to create works that allow him to connect and empathise with people “beyond time, space and all differences”. 

In his work, he calls upon a Japanese aesthetic sensibility he finds within, which sees beauty in unpredictability. His vessels seek to express the integration of primitive beauty in modernity through their forms, which remain reminiscent of the ancient Yayoi pottery of Japan. Through traditional Japanese materials and methods, Koichi achieves a new and unique mode of expression. He practices in ceramics to delight people across the globe, achieved in his works through remarkably smooth planes, their sense of weightlessness, and an undeniable appreciation for technique. He feels the equality of people is connected by sensation and emotion when perceiving beautiful objects.