Namika Nakai

Artist interview 

Namika Nakai - 'Evidence of Time, Record of Action' 

24/04/25' - 18/05/25' 

She is one of the leading ceramicists of the younger generation in Japan. Keep an eye on her — she creates striking large-scale sculptures, all hand-built and kiln-fired. By carefully analyzing the melting points of clay and glaze, she pushes the boundaries of form and expression, allowing her sensitivity and aesthetic to shine through her work. Her deep curiosity continues to drive her creative force.

Namika recently visited New Zealand, engaging directly with audiences during the Aotearoa Art Fair and our Silo 6 project. She presented her work beautifully and generously shared her stories — we all loved connecting with her. 

For those who missed the chance to meet her in person, here is the Q&A for you to read through to get to know her. 

Thank you, Namika, for making time between international fairs. We hope to welcome you back again soon. All the best!

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1, I understand that you have studied psychology. Why were you interested in psychology?

When I was a child, I had a conversation with my mother asking, "Can I confirm if the blue I see is the same colour as the blue my mother sees?"  I have been working on since 2024 is a work that makes me reconsider my conversation with my mother and the fragility of human cognition. Since I was a child, I have been interested in such intangible human mechanisms as human cognition, emotions, and will. As the high school I went to focused on understanding international cooperation, I was interested in development aid at the time, and I wanted to study something highly specialized in university, so I went back to my childhood memories and decided to go to a university where I could study psychology.

2, Namika's works are like a dialogue with her current self, or rather, she sharpens her senses and creates works in the vector that she thinks is best at the moment, and they are born from the process of creating them. I think the depth and quality of your original works come from the fact that you use the infinite questions that come to you to take on new challenges and give form to your own self.   Usually, people do something to get inspired and then output it, but what was the trigger that led you to create works by facing the core of your work like you did? I think it must be very difficult to sharpen your senses in this day and age when there is so much information, so please tell me if there is anything you are concerned about.

In today's information-filled society, the problem of fake news and the environment in which you are unconsciously exposed to more information than you need are negative aspects that we must face. However, during the production period, the opportunities to meet people are extremely reduced and I tend to stay in the studio, so I think that today's society, where I can quickly look up anything that catches my eye, is an easy time for me to get along with, and I take it quite positively. I have had the Internet and smartphones close to me since I was a child, so I may have unconsciously become good at selecting and discarding information. Of course, the downside is that it is easy to come into contact with biased information that interests me. So, whenever I talk to friends and acquaintances in different fields, I always discover something fresh and new, and I feel even more strongly that it is an indispensable time.

However, in the end, niche information is something that you can only find out by looking for books or listening to experts. For example, I have been visiting the area around Lake Toya in recent years, which continues to change due to volcanic activity and has unique vegetation, and the history of coexistence between volcanoes and humans, and I had no idea about it until I actually visited the town and talked to various local people. Even when keywords come up, such as the qualia problem that was mentioned in childhood stories, I always feel that there is not enough information to cover them. They are still in the middle of research, or too specialized to reach. That is why I have recently come to think that there is meaning in creating works about them.

I am often asked about the source of my inspiration, but the things that interest me are always things that come to mind when I am in the atelier. This may be because I am interested in "human beings" themselves, and they often develop from the discomfort I feel when observing myself on a daily basis. For example, "I keep coming back home wondering if I locked the door," "I get hit with anxiety in the middle of the night for no apparent reason," "Why do some people have different laughing points?", "Is the pleasure of vibrating your vocal cords primitive?", etc. Regardless of my work, I encounter many questions every day and like to research and think about them in my own way. The works in my current solo exhibition, "Evidence of time, record of action," are a series I created over a period of three years from 2019, asking myself questions like, "What is a ceramic work?" and "What is glaze?" These infinite questions may not only concern ceramics, but also be a habit I've had since childhood. Since I started creating works, I've had the opportunity to output those infinite questions, which has made me healthier.


3. "Until now, you have mainly presented your work in the context of pottery and crafts, but in 2023 you have done a solo exhibition at TARONASU, which presented works by domestic and international artists with a focus on conceptual art. Has anything changed since then?"

As I answered in other questions, I created my work without knowing anything about art, and I was absorbed in pottery, which I happened to come across. I express my work using pottery techniques and materials, and it was as if I had found a way to give shape to the "infinite questions" that I had been accustomed to since childhood. It was as if I had so much to say that I had finally acquired a language and started speaking. That's how I started my career as an artist. Since I studied at the Tajimi City Ceramic Design Institute and the Utatsuyama Craft Studio in Kanazawa, it was very natural for me to be in the context of pottery and crafts. My solo exhibition at TARONASU led me to become interested in art in general. For example, I was encouraged by the sight of Helen Frankenthaler creating the staining technique at the exhibition "Colorfield" held at the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art in 2022, and presenting new possibilities for color and painting using the technique, which overlapped with my own research for new ways of expression in ceramics, and I was inspired by Christian Marclay's humor, perspective, and ideas at the exhibition "Translating" (2021) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. I came into contact with works and artists I had never encountered before, and realized that art is an expression of curiosity exploration, and that psychologists' research to scientifically elucidate human mechanisms overlapped, and I began to realize the fun of art, which is expressed and communicated through the five senses, rather than through papers.

4, What made you start ceramics?

I came to Sydney for about a year on an exchange program to study English. At the time, I was studying psychology at university, but in Sydney I became friends with students majoring in creative writing. They were my first friends who were engaged in expressive activities, and I remember being impressed and admiring that such a world existed. So I wanted to learn some way of expression, and decided to study abroad in Northern Europe, which I had been interested in because of my father, an architect. I studied pottery and glass craft (Form Lab) at Engelsholm højskole, a Danish national school, for about six months. I talked about various things with my classmates there through my work, and the days of being immersed in production felt more comfortable than ever in my life. At that time, I had a complex about not knowing much about Japan even though I am Japanese, so I returned to Japan to study pottery, which is my background. Since I was a child, I liked crafts, playing with clay, and playing in the garden more than drawing, so it seemed natural that I chose pottery.

5, Do you have a favorite process in your creation?

The process of stacking and shaping the clay little by little is the longest and my favorite process. The clay is stretched so thinly that it changes shape with the slightest impact, so it is soft and fragile immediately after stacking, and becomes fragile again when it dries. It is also interesting to observe the changes leading up to firing.

6, Do you do anything unusual or research anything to inspire your creations?

Up until now, I have never been inspired by something to create a work. The source of inspiration always starts with a discovery made while observing myself. For example, the series I am presenting in this solo exhibition "Evidence of time, record of action" was created to re-examine the question "Why is that?", as I was strongly attracted to the strata-like patterns of my early works. I picked up elements that I was attracted to intuitively and dug deeper. In the process, I research related topics such as strata and metals. To do this, I sometimes do fieldwork. This leads to my next work and develops it.

7, Please tell us if there is anything you keep in mind while creating.

It is important to do research and think, but first of all, it is something that moves me for some reason. It can be something that makes me feel uncomfortable. It can be visual, conceptual, or physical. I value unraveling the question "Why did I become interested in something that caught my intuition?"

8, Please tell us about your future dreams and challenges.

Starting this spring, I moved my base of production from Kanazawa to the Kanto region. I am currently preparing my atelier. One of my goals since I started ceramics was to set up my own kiln and studio, and I am trying to achieve that. I am looking forward to having more time to face myself and to creating works in my own space.

9, Is there anything you would like to convey to the New Zealand audience through this exhibition?

Presenting my work in a region with a different culture and language is a challenge for me, but it is also an opportunity I always seek. This time, I will be able to visit New Zealand and be present in the gallery. I am looking forward to meeting many people.