Keiko Masumoto

Keiko Masumoto:

STATEMENT

The vessel is,of course,a utilitarian form. But there are vessels that are simply decorative;they exist without flowers being arranged or food being served in them.These vessels are as a matter of course placed for appreciation in the entrance hall of a house or in its tokonoma alcove.Most such pieces are referred to as craft objects,but they transcend the crafts,which by nature are useful.If they are simply decorative pieces,in fact,there is no need for them to make the vessel form.

The categories “fine art” and”craft”have long been present in Japan but today,for most people,the boundaries between them are vague.Perhaps that is because people are more comfortably looking at craft pieces,which seem more approachable and familiar,than the unfamiliar,mysterious presence we call fine art.

The vessel form may thus be one type of device used in the studio crafts,like the painting and the frame in the fine arts.

Whether art or craft,I want to offer work that is intensely consciousness of that category,that framework,to explore what I myself felt.

What spurred me to create this series of works was the idea that they might generate some insight,if I featured,in an intriguing way,works that are situated on that ambiguous boundary.

2007  graduate from ceramic master's course in Kyoto City University of Arts

2007〜2010  teacher at ceramic studio Fumonsha in Kyoto

2010〜2011  artist in residence program at University of ARTS (Philadelphia,USA)

Award

2005  Alumni Association's Award in Annual Exhibition of Kyoto City University       of Arts

2006  First Prize in the Citizen's Cultural Festival Yamaguchi(sponsored by Ministry of education&science)

2007  Mayor's Award for Graduate School in Annual Exhibition of Kyoto City University of Arts

2008  Runner-up Prize in Tokyo Midtown Award Art Competition 

2009  Grand prix in Tokyo Wonder Wall(sponsored by Tokyo metropolitan government)

          Curator's choice award in Kyoten(sponsored by Kyoto City)