Collection: Koichi Onozawa

Koichi Onozawa (b.1983, Tokyo, Japan) is a ceramic artist based in Mashiko, Tochigi.
After graduating from the Tajimi Ceramic Design Institute, he established his kiln in 2011 and has since developed a practice that moves between functional vessels and sculptural forms.

Alongside exhibitions in Japan, Onozawa has presented his work internationally in China, Europe, and the United States. His works were presented at the Knoll showroom during Milan Salone, and he was selected as a finalist for Open to Art in Milan.

In recent years, he has held solo exhibitions in Shanghai and Guangzhou and participated in workshops in China and Mexico. Since 2021, he has worked from Mashiko, where his studio and private gallery are located.

My practice does not begin with distinctions of function or genre.
Vessels, jars, and the small gesture series all extend from the same line of thought—an exploration of the moment when form comes into being.

I preserve subtle distortions, shifts in balance, and uneven distributions of mass that emerge during forming. These are not emphasized expressions, but traces that arise naturally through the dialogue between hand and material. At times, imbalance and distortion are also intentionally introduced and examined.

After forming, layers of clay are built up, ground back, and fired, followed by repeated applications of lacquer and polishing. Through this process, the passage of time and a sense of weathering are deliberately accelerated within the work. The surface exists in the present, while multiple layers of time remain embedded beneath.