Ai Nagai
Curation and Words by Alison Groves
2019/20
Ai NAGAI was born in Takasaki, Gunma in 1989, and currently lives and works in Tajimi, Gifu. After her early experiences at Yousisha Ceramic Art Studio in Tokyo (2016–2018) she was accepted into a two-year program at Tajimi’s Ishoken Tojikiisho Research Institute, one of Japan’s most renowned ceramic institutions, commencing in April 2018.
Working mostly in white clay, Ai’s approach to her ceramic practice centres on connecting people with pure materials. Her purpose is simple: to provide objects that sit seamlessly in the calm hiatuses of daily life. The simplicity of the forms presented at AIR Myoko articulate her refined hand modelling process and approach to controlled irregularity. Within the delicate, smooth and balanced, moments of the mildly akimbo offer subtle variations to the vessels. Her process almost negates the perceived benefit of mould making. While liquid slip poured into a mould allows a ceramicist to accurately reproduce a form several times over, Ai’s process involves manually pressing a solid clay body inside a hand-made mould. This offers a controlled appearance to the exterior, and variation to the interior surface. Ai draws in these intentional distortions to the lips of the forms to achieve a warmer, more inviting, atmosphere. Similarly, the whites of her glazes are peppered with controlled minute ‘imperfections’ and tonal changes: opposing sterility and repetition in favour of a quiet expression of character.
While making ‘shapes which people feel comfortable with,’ Ai says she pictures her vessels in the hands on their users as she models the raw clay into the form. Imagining the interiors, coffee tables, and tablecloths which could one day house her works, brings purpose and connection.
