Ikuko Iwamoto

Ikuko started making ceramic pieces in 1990 at Tezukayama College in Nara, Japan. She initially trained as a potter, but started creating ceramic sculptures in 1993, just prior to commencing a course at the Royal College of Art.

Ikuko describes her designs as primarily 'functional'. 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.

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.

Education
2006 Royal College of Art (MA) Ceramic and glass
2004 Camberwell College of Art (BA) Ceramics

Prize & Awards
2009 Ceramic Review Prize at Ceramic Art London
2008 Development Award Crafts Council
2006 Clerkenwell Award
2006 Inclusive Design Award at Royal College of Art

Public Collection
Victoria and Albert Museum
Touchstone Rochdale
Manchester Art Gallery

Exhibitions
2019
Collect at Saatchi Gallery

2018
Collect at Saatchi Gallery
Made London Marylebone
TUKURU つくる group exhibition at Sway Gallery London

2017
Made London Marylebone at One Marylebone
Sunny Art Centre Group Exhibition
Ceramics in the City at Geffrye Museum
Cracked Ceramic Exhibition at 50 Golborne Road

2016
Women's Association of Ceramic Art at Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Modern Japanese Design at Manchester Art Gallery
Group Exhibition at D-Contemporary, Mayfair London
Solo show at Sidcot Arts Centre, Somerset
Ceramic Art London at At. Central Martins, London

2015
Made London Marylebone at One Marylebone
Art 15, Camden Arts Centre at Olympia London

2014
Common Ground Exhibition at Touchstone Rochdale
Ceramic Art London at Royal College of Art

2013
Collect at Saatchi Gallery
Summer Exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts