Growing up with a ceramicist father in Japan, I spent much of my childhood in my father's ceramic studio. My father, Sansei Suzuki, is a celadon ceramicist in Odawara, Japan. I had been initially trained in wheel-throwing by him in the late 90s but it was only after some years of an on and off relationship with pottery that I started working on a full-time basis, creating my own style of pottery. Settling on PEI and setting up my own studio allowed me to be able to dedicate my time exclusively to Neriage pottery, which I started producing in small quantities for retail shows and sales in 2012. Over the years, I continually refined the techniques that I had discovered and developed, and occasionally consulted my father for his critique and review of my completed works. Recently, my Neriage works have been selected to be included in juried exhibitions in Japan.
In my practice as a potter I work with a technique called Neriage, a Japanese pottery technique which uses different colored clays and/or different clay bodies to construct a piece of pottery on the potter’s wheel.
The process in my work starts with blending white clay and stained clay to form each line, with the increments determined by specific stain percentages that serve as my reference, then bringing them together on the potter’s wheel to create the appearance of subtle tonal gradation from a distance. The resulting transition from dark shades to various tones and lighter colors in each band has always fascinated me, as it seems to defy a single definition and reflects a gradual process of regression and progression. Drawing from my Japanese heritage and Canadian experiences, I view the gradation bands as a reflection of my identity, illustrating how they blur boundaries and place me somewhere in between.
This technique enables me to create pottery with tonal gradated bands that convey depth and texture on smooth surfaces. I am also intrigued by how the spiraling tonal bands distort the symmetrically thrown shape into a visually asymmetrical form while focusing on balance and tension, movement and stillness, as well as dark to light effects within a simple vessel form.
It is my intention to elicit emotional responses in viewers through the interplay of shape, color, and the illusory effects of tonal gradation.
CV
UPCOMING EVENT
Ceramic Art London 2025, London, UK. 2025. 05
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SOLO EXHIBITION
​Tones, Shades, and Swirls in Clay, Mary E. Black Gallery, Halifax, NS 2024.11 - 2025.01
JURIED EXHIBITIONS / GROUP EXHIBITIONS / OTHER PROJECTS
​​Collect Art Fair 2025 Craft Alliance Atlantic curated, London, UK, 2025.03
Collect Art Fair 2024, Craft Alliance Atlantic curated, London, UK, 2024.03
Kasama Ceramic Awards Exhibition 2021 (honourable mention/selected), Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan. 2021. 10
The 8th TOBITEN Ceramic Art Exhibition, TOBI, the Ceramic Art Society of Japan, Tokyo, Japan, 2021. 01
The 24th Mino Teabowl Exhibition, Mino Ceramic Art Association, Gifu, Japan, 2020. 04
The 13th Contemporary Tea Ceramics Exhibition, Toki City Cultural Promotion Foundation, Gifu, Japan, 2020. 03
Shimpo Teabowl Show (first place), NCECA, Portland, Oregon, 2017​
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​Art Lotto, The Friends of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, PEI 2023.01
Toronto Outdoor Art Fair Online version, 2022. 07
Unified Earth, Ice House Gallery, Tatamagouche, NS. 2021. 10
Unprecedented - Joint Ceramics Exhibition on the Art of Neriage III, Touch Ceramics, Hong Kong. 2021. 07
Creative Obsessions, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, PEI, 2020. 08
Revolution, Craft Nova Scotia, Mary E. Black Gallery, Halifax, NS, 2018. 09
Oh Canada, Craft Nova Scotia, Mary E. Black Gallery, Halifax, NS, 2017. 09
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COLLECTIONS
​Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, PEI
PEI Art Bank
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EDUCATION
​Diploma - Graphic Design Holland College, Charlottetown, PEI
BA - Linguistics Carleton University & University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
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