Moved by the Ancients
Wakunami Madoka
Kyoto-based ceramic artist Wakunami Madoka finds inspiration in the ancient. Deeply moved by the art of the Jomon people, which is among the oldest pottery in the world, she reinterprets millennia-old forms for the present age. With a background in both Koishiwara ware, a ceramic folk craft originating in Kyushu, and Kyoto’s native Kyo ware, she lends a soft, graceful refinement to the primitive allure of Jomon forms through her use of new clay and glazes.
Inspired by Jomon: Japan’s Oldest Pottery
Japan’s earliest major civilization belonged to the Jomon people, a prehistoric culture that nevertheless gave birth to some of the oldest pottery in the world. Spanning from around 10,000–300 BCE, the Jomon are known for their intricately patterned jars, bowls, and pots. Built manually using the coil method and fired in open pits, this pottery merged function and beauty. It is their unique coil markings, known as jomon in Japanese, that give this ancient civilization its name.
Wakunami’s work is grounded in her respect for and fascination with the pottery of the Jomon people. Deeply inspired by how these ancient people were able to create such bold designs, and moved at the thought of the lives they might have led, Wakunami’s art acts as a call-and-response, a contemporary meditation on the art of the Jomon.
Ancient Forms, Explored
Wakunami approaches Jomon pottery through the lens of a craftsperson with twenty years’ practical experience. Through her work, she explores how these pieces are balanced, how weight is distributed, and the timing of when to attach each sculptural element. In keeping with how Jomon potters would have worked, she does not use a potter’s wheel; instead, she uses coil-pot techniques to build each piece up by hand.
Yet Wakunami also brings these ancient forms into the modern age, using semi-porcelain clay and applying evocative glazes to unearth new expressions. Her freedom of creativity and instincts as a potter honor this ancient artwork while reinterpreting it for the present.
Biography
Wakunami Madoka was born in 1976 in Koishiwara, Fukuoka Prefecture, to a family spanning fourteen generations of Koishiwara ware potters. After graduating from Saga University, she attended the Kyoto Prefectural Technical College of Ceramics. Today, she works in Kyoto at Soryu Kiln, a joint kiln run by her and her husband that merges Kyo ware and Koishiwara ware styles. In addition to creating tableware under the Soryu Kiln brand, Wakunami also pursues her own art, finding inspiration in the ancient pottery of the Jomon.
