This new ceramic work by Japanese artist Hiroshi Aoki holds its weight low and close to the ground. A wide, compressed body rests on a narrow foot and closes towards a small, irregular opening. The form is quiet, almost geological, as if shaped by pressure rather than by hand.
The piece is hand-built using multiple types of clay, applied in layers. After glazing and firing, the surface is deliberately reworked: the glaze is partially removed, exposing areas that were shielded from direct heat. What remains is a dense, granular skin in sand, ochre and rust, broken by dark mineral patches where the firing has left its trace permanently in the clay.
The surface reads like weathered stone or earth after rain. It asks to be seen up close, and it changes with the light.
Neither purely vessel nor purely sculpture, the work belongs to Aoki's sustained investigation into how memory and the passage of time appear in objects. It is not made to look old. It is made to hold time.
The work is presented in What Remains, an exhibition curated by Valeria Viollaz at The mep, Lucerne, from 7 November to 2 December 2026.
Artist: Hiroshi Aoki, b. 1976, Japan
Technique: Hand-built, multi-clay, layered glaze, post-firing rework
Year: 2026
Condition: New — contemporary work
Exhibited: What Remains · The mep, Lucerne · 7 November – 2 December 2026
Each work by Hiroshi Aoki is unique. Variations in texture, tone and form are intrinsic to the process and are not imperfections.
→ Read more · Hiroshi Aoki · What Remains, VV Interior Home, 2026
This new ceramic work by Japanese artist Hiroshi Aoki holds its weight low and close to the ground. A wide, compressed body rests on a narrow foot and closes towards a small, irregular opening. The form is quiet, almost geological, as if shaped by pressure rather than by hand.
The piece is hand-built using multiple types of clay, applied in layers. After glazing and firing, the surface is deliberately reworked: the glaze is partially removed, exposing areas that were shielded from direct heat. What remains is a dense, granular skin in sand, ochre and rust, broken by dark mineral patches where the firing has left its trace permanently in the clay.
The surface reads like weathered stone or earth after rain. It asks to be seen up close, and it changes with the light.
Neither purely vessel nor purely sculpture, the work belongs to Aoki's sustained investigation into how memory and the passage of time appear in objects. It is not made to look old. It is made to hold time.
The work is presented in What Remains, an exhibition curated by Valeria Viollaz at The mep, Lucerne, from 7 November to 2 December 2026.
Artist: Hiroshi Aoki, b. 1976, Japan
Technique: Hand-built, multi-clay, layered glaze, post-firing rework
Year: 2026
Condition: New — contemporary work
Exhibited: What Remains · The mep, Lucerne · 7 November – 2 December 2026
Each work by Hiroshi Aoki is unique. Variations in texture, tone and form are intrinsic to the process and are not imperfections.
→ Read more · Hiroshi Aoki · What Remains, VV Interior Home, 2026
