Namika Nakai - Evidence of Time, Record of Action

Nakai is an extraordinary contemporary ceramic artist from Kanazawa, Japan. Her innovative approach to ceramics redefines traditional techniques, exploring the delicate balance between control and unpredictability.

In the collection Evidence of Time, Record of Action, I attempt to visualise the passage of time through “traces of actions” such as layered stringing and rhythmically left finger marks and fingerprints. At the centre is the sculptural work Vestage, developed through my engagement with the pottery production areas of Tajimi and Shigaraki, and the craft town of Kanazawa. The melting, cracks, and distortions created by incorporating glaze as one of the layers evoke the fragility of time passed.

The abstract shapes are formed by improvising basic structures—coiling the clay and gradually building up a high wall. The aim is to create unique forms without motifs, shaped purely through the accumulation of time and traces of action, so that “just as a glacier creates a new terrain, shapes and patterns are born from the act itself.”

Namika Nakai

Based in Kanazawa, Japan, ceramic artist Nakai is a recipient of the Excellence Award from the Kasama Ceramic Institute (2021) and has built a strong reputation within Japan’s contemporary art scene. She has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions across Japan and internationally. Now represented by TARO NASU (Tokyo), Nakai has showcased her work at major art events including Frieze London and prominent national art fairs.

Her practice is driven by a fascination with the differing melting points of clay and glaze—a technical curiosity that becomes the foundation for her contemporary ceramic expressions. By assembling thin, hand-built walls and constructing upward or outward to stretch, outline, and reform during the drying process, she shapes bold, dynamic forms.

Balancing control with experimentation, Nakai invites natural phenomena to emerge—cracking, melting, wrapping—transforming what might traditionally be seen as imperfections into elements of ambivalent beauty. Her work evokes a delicate interplay between fragility and strength, where traditional technique meets contemporary sensibility. In these moments of transformation—when clay and glaze interact under intense heat—Nakai captures the fleeting, expressive potential of ceramics. The resulting works suggest a quiet sublimation: a poetic transformation shaped by elemental forces and artistic intuition.