Inaba Chikako 稲葉 周子 b. 1974

Born 1974, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Inspired by the curling and withering leaves of local vegetation like the lotus, hosta and orchid plants with their pronounced veins, INABA CHIKAKO creates elegantly furled sculptural vessels. The struggle to survive in the face of nature's inevitable power has inspired this upcoming artist to look at these beautiful plants in a new way. Her white, fluted and curving forms appear like leaf-like vessels, ready to contain droplets of dew or descending raindrops. It is their capacity to retain moisture in their curled state that has led Inaba to create this new series. A thick opaque white glaze is applied over a coil-built, firmly walled stoneware body with carefully carved fluted "veins." Each form is both distinctive and seductive.