Akiko’s Pottery
Finding beautiful objects isn’t always an easy task, usually the best stuff is hiding away somewhere unusual, but I have to admit it’s nice when things just seem to fall into your lap. Luckily last night I came across this fantastic web store named Totokaelo, they’re actually a shop that I’ve seen and heard about before but the interesting part is the new opening of a dedicated section on their site called “Art-Object” which sells exclusively art and objects, hence the name. What’s interesting is that the main site mainly revolves itself around fashion but this side of the store has some great ceramic and furniture items, some of which are made locally and all are by independent creatives. For example today I picked out a set of works from their shop by Akiko Graham, a Seattle based potter.
Akiko was born in Hokkaido, Japan and has been a potter in Seattle for over twenty years. All of her works are handmade and are produced using stoneware clay, sometimes she uses a pottery wheel other times a slab building technique where you roll out a slab and cut to the desired shape/size. You can then construct a box or a mug without the need for a wheel. Obviously Akiko is very much a special talent, as you can see from her work below she’s got ample character and substance, each piece also has a function which is nice to see. I like the fact that the edges are never straight and that each one is individual, the small ceramic spoons for example would be a great utensil for scooping jam or salt. A cool element to some of these pieces as well are the glazes, with the spoon and the Mentori sugar bowl you can see the white glaze loosely applied making some nice patterns on the outer surface. These would definitely get better with age and use.
She doesn’t just make these items for a few select shops she also produces them for restaurants and showcases her works at a variety of exhibitions over the year. If you’re lucky enough you can see where she’ll be attending by checking out her website via the link below, I’m definitely enticed by these pieces so I’m now off now to look for more from Akiko. Enjoy what we have below.