NEW YORK, NY.- Following her sold-out international debut in 2017, Joan B. Mirviss Ltd announces the second major international solo show of the exciting young artist Takemura Yuri (b. 1980). In her new work, Takemura meditates on the ever-churning vicissitudes of life. This new series of teabowls represents an evolution of her earlier work. While maintaining her characteristic exuberant swirling forms and bold color palette, Takemura has introduced new textures of clay and glaze that convey the passing of time through their weathered appearance. She has also begun creating sculptural works that, in their twisting and branching forms, tell the story of a lifetime as it unfurls. She finds working with clay to be a form of self-reflection that allows her to process her lived experiences.


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“Whenever I touch clay, I feel a sense of comfort uniting my mind, my hands, and the clay. The forms that emerge from this exchange go on to interact with other external forces, changing yet again. There is a cycle of life even in my ceramics.”


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In many ways, her new series reflects both the joy and pain that Takemura has experienced over the past few years, and the ways her aesthetic sensibilities have evolved in response. In addition to giving birth to a daughter, she provided full-time care for her elderly father, a graphic designer who had long shaped her appreciation for art and sensitivity toward color, at the end of his life. A resident of Kanazawa, she also witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, which resonated with her own experience caring for her father. She was particularly struck by the image of wreckage filling Kanazawa’s inner sea. Gazing out at the detritus, much of which was wood, she realized that even that had a past as something rooted and alive. She imagined its future, transformed by the force of the waves into a new form with its own beauty and energy. This is the inspiration behind her new body of work.

“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.”

While she continues her focus on the form of the teabowl, she has also found a new avenue for expression in sculpture. This has given her an opportunity to experiment with forms and has inspired her to reconsider her understanding of functionality in ceramics.

Still early in her career, Takemura’s works have garnered numerous accolades and been acquired by prestigious institutions internationally. They can be found in the collections of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, among others.

Unfurling Forms opens on July 9th and runs through August. The exhibition will feature over 20 new works.