Ikuko Iwamoto is a London-based Japanese ceramic artist whose practice explores the relationship between nature, materials and the passage of time.
Working with porcelain, antique wood and traditional Japanese urushi lacquer, she creates contemporary sculptures that explore fragility, transformation and renewal.
Her practice embraces sustainability and the philosophy of repair, bringing traditional Japanese craftsmanship into a contemporary context.
“I ate lots of plastics, and now I am your dinner. Enjoy!" ①
“I was your dinner, and I forgot to tell you I’d swallowed quite a lot of oil.” ②
The "Ghosts from the Sea" series I am currently focusing on as my main project originated from the "Antique Project" I had been working on.
After hearing news about the dramatic decline in marine fish populations caused by environmental destruction from practices like over-fishing and bottom trawling, I began creating this series in 2022 as a reminder to draw people's attention to this reality.
The terrifying reality that we have finally crossed the 1.5°C threshold established by the 2015 Paris Agreement as the limit for global warming since the Industrial Revolution, along with watching the film adaptation of Charles Clover’s “The End of the Line” last year, and occasionally following Boyan Slat’s the ocean clean-up activities on YouTube, made me wonder what I could contribute.
As a result, for these two completed pieces, I’ve decided to donate part of the proceeds: ① to clean-up ocean initiatives and ② to Charles Clover’s Blue Marine Foundation.
I also recently read in the newspaper that at this rate, the day when sea levels rise by one meter isn’t too far off. I encourage everyone to take just a little time to watch Charles Clover’s film —it’s only an hour and a half—or to read his latest book, “Bewilding the Sea”. If we don’t act, the fish in our oceans will disappear!