How did you get into ceramics?
I started when I was 18. I went to Joshibi, an art school that allows women to become artists, which wasn't common at the time. When I started there, I was much more interested in textiles, in weaving. But it was too traditional. I was looking for something more contemporary. And a new program had just opened with a professor, Ito Kosho, who was resolutely focused on contemporary creation. I chose the professor more than ceramics itself.
Textiles are often present in your ceramics!
Yes, I've maintained my interest in textiles. Fabric is very flexible, but once you make a cut, it's finished; you can't go back. Whereas ceramics allows for more possibilities; it's more flexible, much freer. And for me, ceramics is like Japanese philosophy; it's a learning process, a path in life. Since I've encountered ceramics, you can't just stop there. You have to continue with ceramics to see what lies further along the path.
Ceramics is hard and cold, though!
Yes and no. There's a communication between the material and me. It's very soft and tender when you work with it. It changes a lot depending on the weather or my emotions. And it evolves over time. It will dry, become hard. Once fired in the kiln, the clay becomes ceramic. It transforms. Like us, like our memories. It allows us to express the passage of time. I really like textiles, but with clay, you can go much further.
Do you find freedom in this material full of constraints?
I love that idea. It's like the tea ceremony in Japan. It's full of very precise rules, full of objects that each have their own rules, things that shouldn't be done any other way. But once you understand all these rules, once you master them, it's executed with fluidity. I can't answer you right now, but when I make ceramics, it's like meditation. I repeat movements. Perhaps that's where freedom appears. I'll think about it.
How did you end up in the Hautes-Pyrénées?
I wanted to see what it was like to be an artist in France. Through my school, I was able to spend a year at the Cité Internationale des Arts with my studio apartment in the center of Paris. But in a year, you can only enjoy Paris, not really discover it. I stayed, I started exhibiting. And I met a man from here.
Where can we see your ceramics?
In my studio in La Soulane. I'm also preparing a group exhibition at La Minoterie in Nay. Furthermore, I've been selected as an artist-in-residence at the European Institute of Ceramic Arts in Alsace. I'm working on molds for the Paschal Lamb, an Alsatian cake whose mold resembles antique Japanese ceramics. I've already spent eight weeks there and I'll be returning in March and April to finalize the project and present it.
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