Born in 1938, Ken Akaji specializes in kutani-ware, a type of pottery with overglaze painting that is known for its bright, vivid colors and bold, varying shapes. Having studying under kutani overglaze director Sōsuke Wata in the 1950s, Akaji joined the Kutani-yaki Cooperative Society and subsequently established his own kiln in 1965.
His most recent and first solo exhibition at Ippodo Gallery, Spiral (2015), featured mathematically-influenced ceramics which represented patterns found in both manmade places as well as nature. By concentrating visual semiotics akin to a Fibonacci spiral into physical pieces, Akaji opens up a space in which the viewer is reminded of similar patterns found in forests, galaxies, and even our own bodies.
