About Ikuko Iwamoto
Ikuko started making ceramic pieces at Tezukayama College in Nara, Japan. She initially trained as a potter, but started creating ceramic sculptures just prior to commencing a course at the Royal College of Art.
Ikuko describes her designs as primarily 'functional'. When she was making pots, “I had to make the same sized cups all the time and I thought it was very boring,” she explains. However, her approach changed after working on an 'inclusive design project' at the RCA's Hamlyn Centre. It was here that she learned to make 'tactile tableware', working with partially sighted people to help develop her unique handmade style.
Ikuko is especially curious about invisible things such as sounds, music and the microscopic world - cells, genes and organic forms. Her functional pieces are still influenced by her ceramic sculpture forms and this is what customers find most appealing - the handmade quality of her work, where every little detail is individually crafted. This meticulous level of detail also seems curiously appropriate for a subject matter that includes the tiniest of sea creatures and the minutest of micro-organisms. Ikuko explains, “I like to make invisible things visible.”
In terms of the design process, Ikuko also makes all the casting moulds by hand. The main body of a piece is usually created from a slip-casting, but every part of the decoration, including every single spike is individually attached by hand. All of the pieces are painstakingly made from porcelain.
Ikuko's work has already achieved critical acclaim and in March 2009, she was awarded the Ceramic Review Prize for Innovation at the RCA's Ceramic Art London exhibition. Her work has just been accepted into the V& A permanent ceramics collection.