Ayumi Shigematsu

Shigematsu Ayumi belongs to the second wave of postwar female ceramists who received a college education in the arts. Common themes shared by this generation of women artists are allegorical representations of female sexuality and works that draw on the beauty of nature. All of Shigematsu's works pose tensions between the external and internal as forms are turned inside out, revealing fluidly interconnected surfaces. Shapes are discovered subconsciously by the artist as they evolve from clay coiling and hand-pinching. After a basic form is "found," Shigematsu brushes an original mixture of differently colored slip made with various pigments upon her clay surfaces. (She does not use traditional glazes.) Before a work is left to dry, the artist polishes its entire surface with a carefully selected stone, and then quickly fires the object at a relatively low temperature to retain the moist, milky textures that are her trademark.