Keiko Masumoto was the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Ceramics Resident from April to September 2013. The V&A’s Residency programme provides on site studios for creative practitioners, access to collections for research and, through working closely with the public, the opportunity to interpret the collections to multiple and diverse audiences. Masumoto also demonstrated her approach to ceramics at the International Ceramics Festival, Aberystwyth, on 29 and 30 June 2013.

After completing her MA in the Ceramics Department of Kyoto City University of Arts in 2007, Masumoto established herself as one of the most inventive and prolific makers of her generation. She taught at the Fumonsha ceramic studio in Kyoto (2007-2010) and Kobe Design University (2012-2013), and was Artist in Residence at the University of Arts, Philadelphia (2010). Masumoto has been the recipient of numerous prizes including the Grand Prix at Tokyo Wonder Wall (2009). In 2011 she presented a much acclaimed solo show at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art forming part of their Touch and Sense series, an annual exhibition for blind and partially sighted people.

Masumoto works at the interface between form and surface decoration, colliding vessel shapes with three-dimensional renderings of two-dimensional imagery. The results are both humorous and subversive in their questioning of the boundaries between the utilitarian and the decorative, and in the freshness of their challenge to conventional notions about the purpose and meaning of ceramics and other genres of craft.

Masumoto commented on the International Ceramics Festival, Aberystwyth and on her residency at the V&A as follows:

‘'This is the first time for me to present my working techniques at an international festival of this kind. As well as presenting my own work, it will be great to see all of the other internationally renowned artists working there too. What’s really special about this festival is that visitors get to see work by highly regarded ceramicists close up, pieces we would otherwise only see as photographs in print or on the internet.’

I’ve attended ceramics festivals in Japan and have really enjoyed taking part in these. The International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth presents a range of cultures and traditions in ceramic practice that I expect will have many similarities to, yet many differences from, Japan’s ceramics culture – and I am especially fascinated by cultural exchange’.

During my residency at the V&A, I am researching the exchange of ideas and influences in design and ceramic craft between East Asia and Europe. The V&A’s collections are really interesting for my research as they include extensive holdings of ceramics from all over the world. This makes them absolutely perfect for my interest in trade and exchange, especially that which occurred during Japan’s Meiji period (1868-1912), when Japan became an active player on the international scene after several centuries of relative isolation.

The Ceramics Residency Studio at the V&A is very special for me as it forms an integral part of the gallery that explores the materials and techniques used in the making of ceramics at different times in history and in different parts of the world. Visitors can see my making processes and techniques and can also visit me during Open Studios to see my work close up, ask questions, engage in discussion, and have hands on experience of ceramics at different stages in the making process. I am very enthusiastic about working with the public and am inspired by seeing people laughing and enjoying themselves as they work with clay.