How I Encountered Ceramics

Hanada: What was your path to your current work?

Yukiko Mori: I first enrolled in the crafts department at an art university.

Hanada: So you were interested in crafts.

Yukiko Mori: I originally loved books and was interested in book design and binding, so at first I was considering the design department. But at an orientation session at prep school, I heard that in crafts you can be involved in every step of making a piece, from beginning to end.
I remember thinking, “That sounds nice.”
With design, I felt there are stages where your hands leave the process, or it becomes group work. The idea of being able to complete everything myself, from start to finish, seemed to suit me.
I’m not very good at working in groups (laughs). Since I was a child, my family has described me as someone who moves at her own pace, and I’ve always loved doing things on my own. Reading, drawing, playing the piano…

Hanada: And among the crafts, you chose ceramics.

Yukiko Mori: When I entered university, I hadn’t planned on choosing ceramics. But as I worked with different materials, clay was the one that refused to turn out the way I expected.
I had originally been interested in metalwork and textile dyeing, but I began to feel a strong curiosity: “This is something I handle every day as tableware, yet I know almost nothing about it.” That was the turning point.

Hanada: You’re from Nagakute, near Seto and Sanage.

Yukiko Mori: I don’t remember visiting production areas in particular, but I did go to a local museum. And I believe someone from Seto once came to a cultural program at school and let us try working with clay.

Hanada: That’s something special about growing up locally. Did anyone in your family work in a creative field?

Yukiko Mori: No. I’m the only one in my family of five. My parents let me pursue what I liked, in my own way. I’m grateful to them for raising me without comparing me to others.

Wedding Favors

Hanada: After studying ceramics at school, was there a particular moment when you decided to pursue it professionally?

Yukiko Mori: While I was in graduate school, I had the opportunity to make the wedding favors for my brother’s wedding. It was the first time I had ever made such a large quantity…
Of course, you can’t just make the exact number needed. At the time I didn’t have much confidence, so I made several times more than required and selected the best finished pieces from among them. My whole family helped with the wrapping as well.

Hanada: About how many did you make?

Yukiko Mori: Around 250 free cups.
It was a lot of work, but I was deeply moved by the thought that something I had made would become part of so many people’s daily lives.
I had never created something while thinking so intently about specific people before. I had always felt somewhere inside that I wanted to make things that are simple, yet grow more beloved the more they are used. That was the first time I truly felt that idea take shape.

Hardworking Tableware

Hanada: What do you value most when making your work?

Yukiko Mori: I don’t feel the need for my pieces to assert themselves. They don’t have to look striking in photographs. I hope they are dependable pieces that people can reach for casually every day, quietly supporting daily life.

Hanada: What about overall construction, form, and silhouette?

Yukiko Mori: Perhaps it’s about leaving space within the form. I try not to add too much decoration. Curves are especially important to me. I sketch and determine the balance as I go.
For vases and teapots in particular, I enjoy drawing them beforehand, imagining how I’d like them to be.

Hanada: What, in your view, makes a good form?

Yukiko Mori: These aren’t my own words, but I was happy when someone described my work as “sharp yet warm.”
If something is too sharp, it can feel cold. I want to value the subtle tension that comes from being shaped by hand rather than by machine.

Hanada: One aspect that symbolizes your work is color. It’s a type of blue that’s unusual in ceramics.

Yukiko Mori: There are many blues in ceramics. Even so, I wanted to create my own blue, and I selected it from twenty or thirty different variations.

Hanada: Is there anything you would like to pursue from here on?

Yukiko Mori: In terms of form, I’d like to increase the number of molded pieces beyond wheel-thrown work.
I also have many friends who work with other materials, and I’d like to collaborate in various ways. Working with people in different materials often leads to discoveries and learning opportunities. Actually, this year I had the chance to exhibit my work accompanied by music, which was also enjoyable.
I suppose I’m genuinely interested in many different things—I’m not very good at sitting still.

Hanada: Having many things you want to do is a wonderful thing.

Yukiko Mori: I’m also currently involved in guiding students preparing for entrance exams, and I have opportunities to listen to and advise junior high and high school students who are about to choose their own paths.
I often tell them that I simply happen to be working in ceramics now; it’s not as though I had decided from the beginning that this was what I wanted to become. I feel that where I am today is simply the result of doing what was in front of me at each stage. It’s not as if I possess some obvious, flashy talent. If you feel like trying something, I think it’s important to try.

Hanada: That may be true at any stage and in any profession. It may not go exactly as you imagine, but it may not be as difficult as you fear, either…

Yukiko Mori: I’m glad I tried, and I’m grateful that I was able to. While continuing to challenge myself with the things I want to explore, I don’t want it to become self-indulgent. I want to remain thankful to those who have supported me and to those I will encounter in the future, and to continue steadily for as long as I can.



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