Yuji Toma
Yachimun Exhibition
Yuji Toma
October 4 (Fri.) – October 16 (Wed.), 2024
Opening Hours：11:00〜19:00
Closed: Monday, Tuesday
©︎Yuji Toma
Kaikai Kiki Gallery is pleased to present “Yuji Toma Yachimun Exhibition,” an exhibition of new ceramic works by Yuji Toma, starting October 4, 2024.
Yuji Toma’s studio is located in Koja, Okinawa, about 50 minutes north of Naha Airport by car. On the way from the airport to his studio are the vast U.S. military base in Ginowan and the traditional Okinawan turtleback tombs, and then, suddenly, his studio appears by the roadside at the foot of the mountains. The workshop is a small space of only about 66 square meters in all, with dirt, bricks, and firewood scattered about at the entrance. Beyond them, you find two types of wood-fired kilns that Toma taught himself to build. When the kilns are fired for production, the surrounding area becomes engulfed in sweat-inducing heat and humidity.
Up until now, Toma has exhibited mainly teacups, karakara decanters, and medium-sized pots in group exhibitions at Kaikai Kiki Gallery, including the “Tsuchitomo no Hakaba” exhibition, the “Tokyo Wild Clay” Tsuchitomo Exhibition, and the “Kuniyoshi Seisho Homage Exhibition”. For this solo exhibition, he is challenging himself to create large works befitting the space of Kaikai Kiki Gallery, and he will be firing them until just before the opening. Yuji Toma has become a very popular artist, with visitors lining up to see his works in particular at group exhibitions. We hope that you will come see his spirited works with your own eyes.
Toma’s studio in Koja, Okinawa (Photographed on August 2024)
©︎Yuji Toma
Message from the Artist
I make pottery in Okinawa.
Pottery, “yakimono” in Japanese, is called “yachimun” in the Okinawan dialect.
I started working part-time for my uncle, a Shisa artisan, when I was 18 years old, kneading clay and pressing molds, and came to highly enjoy making Shisas.
Just like ice melting into water, the ash [glaze] melts when fired, and I became fascinated with yachimun because of the interesting changes it undergoes in the process of production.
I wanted to try firing with wood, so I built an anagama kiln.
At that time, my only desire was to fire my works with wood, so I solely relied on my imagination to convince myself that I could do it well. I dug soil and made clay, filled the kiln, and fired as best I could, but the kiln refused to achieve high temperature.
I was very excited when the temperature finally rose sufficiently for the first time and I saw the teacups melted and collapsed.
I was truly happy.
I want to fire interesting yachimun.
So I will call this exhibition “Yuji Toma Yachimun Exhibition”.
Thank you.
Yuji Toma
Yuji Toma
Born in 1986 in Gushigawa City (now Uruma City), Okinawa Prefecture. In his final year of high school, he began helping his uncle, a master potter and Shisa maker, and learned the art of modeling. In 2008, he won the Urasoe Mayor’s Prize at the 60th Oki Exhibition, and in 2017, he won the 69th Oki Exhibition’s Oki Exhibition Prize for his powerful ceramic work “Wind God and Thunder God”.
Recent exhibitions include “Kuniyoshi Seisho Homage Exhibition” (Kaikai Kiki Gallery, 2024), “Tokyo Wild Clay” Tsuchitomo Exhibition (Kaikai Kiki Gallery, 2024), “Tsuchitomo no Hakaba” (Kaikai Kiki Gallery, 2023), “Yuji Toma: Sometsuke” (Tonoto, 2023), “Dokonjōyaki: Naoki Wada & Yuji Toma” (Gallery Lafayette, 2021), “Yuji Toma: Aku” (Tonoto, 2020).
From “Tokyo Wild Clay” Tsuchitomo Exhibition
at Kaikai Kiki Gallery
Photo: reiko mitake ©︎Yuji Toma
Event Overview
Yuji Toma Solo Exhibition
“Yuji Toma Yachimun Exhibition”
Date: October 4, 2024 (Fri) – October 16, 2024 (Wed)
Opening hours: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays
Location: Kaikai Kiki Gallery
Motoazabu Crest Bldg. B1F, 2-3-30 Motoazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
New work to be exhibited
©︎Yuji Toma
