Takemura Yuri 竹村 友里 b. 1980

Born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Growing up with a father who worked in graphic design, Takemura Yuri has always been drawn to art. Though she initially pursued oil painting, she found herself limited by the restrictions of the canvas. Serendipitously, at a ceramics competition in Tajimi, she encountered the artistic freedom she desired: a three-dimensional surface to apply her painted designs. Though she primarily creates functional teabowls, a time-honored form of Japanese ceramics, she imbues these teabowls with sculptural qualities, carving dynamic swirls and unctuous drips into the body of the clay. She further highlights these sculptural forms with glazes in a distinctive and bold color palette, demonstrating the eye for design she inherited from her father. In her new body of work, Takemura has given form to her experiences of both joy and pain over the past few years, as she has raised her daughter, cared for her elderly father, and witnessed the aftermath of the 2024 Noto peninsula earthquake. Despite her relative youth, she has received an impressive array of awards and accolades.

"At the root of my artistic expression is the cycle of life. All living things return to nature and in turn give life to soil, plants, and microorganisms. People go on living in the hearts of the ones who love them. Even as it changes form, life continues. As I reflect on this, I turn towards my own daily biorhythm and make form out of the curving lines that emerge from it."

Anadolu University Contemporary Arts Museum, Eskişehir, Turkey
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Japan
Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kōgei Kōbo, Japan
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
Portland Art Museum, OR
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan