The connotation of the word “craft” is one that often separates it from art and design, implying that its creative value is somehow lesser than. However, public opinions are changing, partly fueled by the realization that the prior delineation was rooted in discrimination against the original makers—often women and people of color. Over the last few years, more galleries have begun welcoming ceramics, woodworking, textiles, and more into their exhibitions.
Ahead of the trend, in 2017, fashion designer and Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson launched the first edition of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize to recognize the tremendous artistic contributions of often-overlooked makers from around the globe. Last night, at a ceremony held in the serene garden of the Noguchi Museum in Astoria, Queens, for the sixth annual Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, 51-year-old Japanese ceramist Eriko Inazaki won with tears of joy in her eyes.
Inazaki’s winning work, Metanoia (2019), is a loosely egg-shaped sculpture whose surface, with the exception of its blue base, is entirely covered in layers of intricate details forming starbursts, beads, tubes, honeycombs, and miniature baubles in white ceramic. Despite standing just nine and a half inches tall, the work is electric, and intentionally so, says the artist. It is meant to “express a beating heart abounding with life,” and “an onomatopoeia of the word ‘sparkle,’” she tells AD PRO. The labor-intensive process behind Metanoia’s creation took over a year—building up layers of tiny clay forms and thin shards to create the depth we see today. “There is challenge in how to construct what I make into a piece,” Inazaki continues. “That is the process that excites me. All of myself goes into creating the work, and I have the notion that perhaps it can go beyond the limit of human creativity.”