Born in Kyoto in 1956, the Japanese ceramic artist Kitamura Junko studied with Suzuki Osamu (1926­–2001), the co-founder of the avant-garde group Sodeisha, and the renowned ceramicist Kondo Yutaka (1932–83). Influenced by Jomon-period (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 BC) pottery of ancient Japan, the simple yet dynamic forms of her stoneware vessels convey an unmistakable modern sensibility. Exquisite, mesmerizing patterns mark the works by Kitamura. These intricate designs are inspired by fifteenth-century traditional Korean punch’ong stoneware featuring surface decorations accentuated with slip (liquid clay) inlay. Using a sharpened piece of bamboo, Kitamura makes meticulous indentations onto the clay body of the vessel, which is first thrown on a potter’s wheel then covered and fired with gray-black slip. These indentations are then individually and painstakingly filled with white slip, after which the vessel is fired again to complete the work. Emerging from a darkened background, these delicate white dots and minute geometric impressions meld together to form graceful ornamentation reminiscent of celestial constellations or traditional Japanese textile patterns.

Kitamura received an MFA from the Kyoto City University of Art. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions held at the Gallery Maronie, Kyoto; Minami Aoyma Green Gallery, Tokyo; Gallery Nakamura, Kyoto; Garth Clark Gallery, New York. Since 1984, she has participated in group exhibitions mounted at the Kyoto Culture and Art Center; Kyoto Municipal Museum; Japan Society, New York; Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton; Contemporary Art Nikki, Tokyo; Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford; and other venues. Her work is represented in the collections of the British Museum; Brooklyn Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum; and Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu; among other institutions.

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