Kyoko Takahashi is influenced in her work by forms found in the natural world. The shapes she creates are like eggs and seeds, which are created organically to protect life from the elements (air and water), or like pebbles which are shaped by those same elements, through the forces of erosion.
Some of the objects reproduce the protective skin of eggs and seeds, but by slicing into the shapes to expose their inner surfaces. Kyoko Takahashi also demonstrates their vulnerability. Kyoko Takahashi explores the relationship between the surface, the shape and the volume of the objects.
The surfaces of the objects have simple patterns and are designed to be pleasurable to touch. The colours used are natural colours found in stones and the patterns reflect ripples in water.
Kyoko Takahashi tries to create a balance between form, colour and pattern. Her pieces are intended for interior display and to bring an echo of the outside natural world, into an enclosed environment, in the same way that somebody might take home a pebble from a beach.
Kyoko Takahashi uses T material and porcelain which is mixed to create her own clay. T material gives the objects strength and porcelain gives them a smoother finish. Kyoko has coloured the clay by mixing oxides, carbonates and stains. The objects have been hand built, and then the surfaces decorated before firing. The pieces are biscuit fired at 900 degrees centigrade. Before the second firing the surfaces have been treated by sandpapering to give them a natural feel. The second firing is at 1260 degrees. |
