Toshiko Takaezu

In 1958, Takaezu began throwing earthenware pots in “closed form” (e.g. with closed tops), making ceramic objects that could not serve a domestic functional use. Instead, they are works of art. Takaezu’s ceramics are organic and sensual, and they vary in size from just a few inches to six feet tall. Her work is informed by the study of Zen Buddhism.

Takaezu taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art for nearly a decade and was then appointed at Princeton University, where she taught for twenty five years and helped develop the university’s visual arts program. Her work is in numerous public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Museum in Bangkok, Thailand. She has received many honors and awards, among them the Gold Medal of the American Craft Council and was named a Living Treasure of Hawaii.