DOSSIER / Profile

The Spirit of Clay

Text
Karine Monié
Images
Lindsay Cox

Facing page
Yoshimi Futamura’s
sculptural ceramic
creations are
inspired by natureand her spiritualapproach to thematerial
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Futamura has
maintained a studioin Paris for three
decades, and says
the city made her
an artist‘At fifteen years old, I realised that I
wanted to use my hands to create
something,’ says Nagoya-born, Paris-based
artist Yoshimi Futamura. Ceramics seemed anatural choice, as from an early age, Futamura
was fascinated by the Buddhist ceremonies
her parents hosted for family and friends. ‘The
day before, everybody started to prepare foodand organise the house,’ she recalls. ‘As a child,
it was a big event.’ Guests used ceramic andlacquer tableware, and often concluded thesememorable events with a tea ceremony using
beautiful bowls. Futamura has loved ceramics
ever since, both for their appearance and theirfunctionality.
From 1979 to 1981, Futamura trained at
Japan’s Seto School of Ceramics, where sheembraced historic techniques. Then, newly
graduated and wanting to broaden her
horizons, she applied to be a ceramicist for
the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers,in which Japanese citizens participate ineconomic and social development initiatives
in developing countries. She was sent to SriLanka in 1986, a trip that introduced her
to a country with unexpected philosophicalsimilarities to Japan. ‘The most important
thing I learnt in Sri Lanka is that, in this world,
there are a lot of different people with different
backgrounds and we have to respect them,’ shesays. ‘It’s important to try to understand eachother. And after this experience, I realised thatI could live anywhere.’
Futamura’s next move was to Paris, the city she
has called home for the past 30 years. ‘The firstday I arrived, I felt “this is my place”,’ she says.

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The cosmopolitan town, full of museums andpeople from all over the world, fascinated her.
She graduated from the Duperré School ofApplied Arts in 1994 and opened her studio
two years later. ‘Paris made me an artist. I still
have my first Japanese-style yunomi teacupthat I made here.’
Influenced by her early years in Japan andthe last three decades spent surrounded byOccidental culture, Futamura has achieved theperfect balance through her work. ‘My main
source of inspiration is nature,’ she says. ‘InJapan, life is greatly related to nature and welearn to respect it: the beautiful transitions of
the four seasons, the fruits they bring to thearchipelago and sometimes the fear of natural
disasters.’ In Paris, it continues to influence
her work — for example, in finding a smallleaf on a big-city street. But 2019 will see herreconnect with her native country, as she will
spend part of the year as an artist-in-residence
at Japan’s Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park.
Often compared to petrified wood or oldburled logs, Futamura’s creations reflect
her love for the material that is at once
intertwined with her culture and a vehicle forself-expression. ‘In Japan, clay is not just any
material; it is something alive’, she says. ‘WhenI look at clay, when I touch it, when I taste it,
I try to feel, to sense, the secret message of thismarvellous material, to understand its power.’
Beginning with tubular forms on a wheel, thenapplying white porcelain slip, manipulating
the shape from the inside out, and finallydrying and firing, Futamura strives to capture
the spirit of clay.