Akio Nukaga
Channel: Kasama Potters
Date: 26/04/2021

Akio Nukaga is a master potter, and an important contemporary face of Kasama ceramics.  He began his career in 1989 at the Kōzan-gama kiln, before creating an individual base in 1993.  Active in ceramics in this period, Nukaga was part of a generation that lead a return to craft following the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy.  Within a domestic movement in this way, he has also built connections with like-minded potters around the world.  At the centre of it, is his work.  His pieces have a rhythm, frequently expressed through shinogi type pleated lines on their surface.  Nukaga turns to traditional Japanese forms and techniques, but also draws on a broad ceramic imagination.  He describes some of his pieces as possessing an almost mid-century style and outlook.  In glaze, he often features the textural mix of kohiki, which places light clay over a dark background.   With the skills of a Japanese potter, Akio Nukaga too has broad horizons, and in this way personifies the vibrancy of contemporary ceramics in Kasama.