BIO
Kanako Sahashi grew up with parents who were collectors of antiques and ceramics in Japan. While working for a non-profit organization where creators gathered, she developed a strong admiration for people who create things. She learned about a pottery technique called “Nerikomi” during her busy life. She was fascinated by the method and got the urge to make Nerikomi vessels herself. After moving to Kenya, she had her first opportunity to work with clay.
She learned the ceramics basics for a few months at the Kenyan potter Waithira Chege’s studio. Then, She began to teach herself how to make vessels using the “Nerikomi” technique, which she had longed to do. Currently, she creates Nerikomi ceramics at her small home studio in Nairobi, Kenya, from making clay with local Kenyan soil to firing.
Artist Statement
Working with the Nerikomi technique is a meditative act. I am fascinated by unique patterns that come from co-creating my calculations and clay’s fluctuation and by the difficulty of shaping the slabs into vessels that fit daily life.
I get inspiration from the scenery I encounter in the city. I am particularly attracted to the overlap of nature and artificial artefacts, such as ivy-covered exterior tiles and iron doors or the harmony of plants and people’s geometric clothes on the street. I decide on colours, patterns, and shapes based on my imagination of how they will fit in the rooms of my dear friend. I also consider what patterns can be expressed only with the Nerikomi technique.
It is a miracle and a great pleasure to make clay from the original soil at the foot of Mount Kenya, create patterns and finish the vessels with my hands. I am on a journey to find patterns and shapes that take advantage of the colours and textures of the local soil.
My contact with the clay is fleeting in the context of the universe’s workings. Still, the possibility that my vessels will exist somewhere in the world even after I am gone is a great driving force for me to make vessels.
The vessels I make imagine my dear friend may travel the oceans, and one day they will be in the hands of someone in a different country and become their favourites. I create my works with such a dream in mind.