Harumi Nakashima
Bustling Forms, 2024

Material: Porcelain

“Bustling Forms” by Harumi Nakashima (b. 1950) showcases an interplay between hard-edged rectangular, square, and pyramidal forms and organic spherical forms.

Harumi Nakashima further composes the work via the addition of his signature polka dot motif on the spherical forms and striped, metered motifs on the hard-edged forms. Varying scale and elements of negative space/intensity, Nakashima introduces a rhythmic dynamism.

“Nakashima has been a pupil of the famed Sodeisha Movement in Japanese ceramics from the very beginning. The movement, founded in 1948 as a reaction against the functionality, calmness, and folk-driven Mingei Movement, was meant to liberate the medium from the tradition of Japanese ceramics. As a student at the Osaka University of Arts Design, he was exposed to Sodeisha for the first time, and that has come to shape his entire creative career. Inspired by its call for non-functional forms, and for conversations with the international art movements, Nakashima developed a language that gives a tremendous respect to the plasticity and sensuality of material. He is a recipient of endless awards, and his work can be found in permanent collections of museums and public institutions worldwide.” – Daniela Ohad Ph.D