Artist Yo Akiyama has never been one to play by the rules. As a young student in the ceramics program at Kyoto City University of the Arts (Kyoto Geidai) in the mid-1970s, he quickly earned a reputation as a troublemaker, never content to accept his teacher's lessons at face value.
"When I first learned to throw on the potter's wheel, I made my bowls upside down," remembers Akiyama. "My teachers told me that wasn't the way to do it, but I wasn't satisfied with that answer. If I was going to use clay as a tool for creation, I had to find my own reasons to use the material. When they said 'it's just the way it is done,' I asked 'Why?' "
Four decades later, Akiyama's rebellious nature has clearly served him well. He is currently the head of the ceramics department at his alma mater, and his monumental ceramic sculptures are celebrated both in Japan and around the globe. His current exhibition, "Yo Akiyama: Towards the Sea of Arche," on display now through July 24 at Musee Tomo, Tokyo, is a tour de force of contemporary ceramic art.
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