Akiko Hirai

In a manner of speaking…

A solo show of recent ceramics

9 July – 11 September 2022

We are delighted to announce a new exhibition of Akiko Hirai’s ceramics.

First Release

Thank you to all those who came to the opening and responded to the ceramics online. All the ceramics in the first delivery from Akiko have sold out. The full exhibition can be seen further down on this page. The ceramics will stay at the gallery until the end of the exhibition so everyone can see them.

Second Release

The second delivery of Akiko’s pots is live now

Part 2 of the exhibition consists mainly Dry Kohiki domestic ware, Still Life bottles, Micro Moon Jars, Sake Bottles and Chocos, and Ponds will be posted online at 5pm Saturday 6 August. As before we will ask customers to email us saying which pots they would like to buy, with second choices if appropriate. Please include a telephone number and do not call us. On Monday we will respond to the emails in the order they came in and will phone you back to complete the sale. As always, we will try to be as fair as possible in allocating the pots.

Let us know on gallery@sladersyard.co.uk if you would like a notification with a link to the online sale.

All the ceramics will be on display in the gallery until the end of the exhibition.

We are happy to ship pots internationally.

Akiko Hirai ceramics with Alex Lowery paintings and Petter Southall furniture

Akiko Hirai was born in Japan in March 1970. She initially studied cognitive psychology in Japan and obtained her degree before coming to England. Inspired to take up ceramics by the Korean moon jars in the British Museum, she took a degree course in ceramics at the University of Westminster and went on to graduate from Central St. Martins. She now practises her ceramic art in Stoke Newington, London.

Akiko Hirai makes practical ware using the Japanese tradition of allowing the clay to show how it wants to be fired itself. Her work also allows the viewers to find out the language of the objects in their own ways. She focuses on the interaction between objects and viewers. Her unique approach to ceramic work has had much attention and praise and her work is in demand from commissions in England and world-wide.

From the start she has been heralded as a unique talent. Her intensely handmade tableware has a remarkable purity. Deeply textured, glazed in soft white, matt black and natural colours, her forms are those of workware, simple and satisfying. She chooses very rough dark clay and often glazes it with white, which forms a veil between the rough forms underneath and the smooth calm of the exterior. Her range is extensive and fine pieces of porcelain join Moon Jars and deeply glazed platters.

Akiko Hirai was shortlisted for the prestigious international Loewe Craft Prize 2019. She has shown at Sladers Yard almost every year since 2009.

The following is the documentary from the London Korean Cultural Centre’s Moon Jar exhibition in 2013, Aspheric Light by James Kelly. Four ceramic artists from the UK took part. Akiko Hirai’s section of the film starts at 13.52.