This document summarizes an interview with ceramic artist Yumiko Goto. Goto crafts ceramic vessels inspired by natural forms like flower petals and seeds. She began working with clay after moving to the US from Japan in 1999. Goto enjoys all aspects of the ceramic process, from sculpting clay to applying glazes. Her Japanese heritage and experiences harvesting fruits with her family influence her nature-inspired work.

1. Yumiko Goto
Exquisite Ceramic Vessels Mimicking Organic Shapes Found in Nature
https://mymodernmet.com/yumiko-goto-nature-ceramics/
02/22/2022

2. From landscape paintings to coral
reef-inspired textiles, nature is a
constant source of inspiration for
many contemporary artists.
Cleveland-based ceramicist
Yumiko Goto is one of those
creatives.
She sculpts one-of-a-kind vases,
ring dishes, and lidded vessels
based on the structures found in
nature - including delicate flower
petals, seeds, and buds.

4. Originally from Osaka, Japan, Goto
grew up with a grandmother who was
a professional kimono maker. This
upbringing sparked a creative passion
in the artist from an early age.
She reveals, “Since when I was a
child, I always loved to create,
whether I played with a piece of
Origami paper or getting making mud
sculptures, I just can not stop making
things.” Her love of crafting shines
through in her work—each delicate
ceramic vessel is lovingly handcrafted
in the artist's home studio, from
building the form in clay to applying
pastel-hued glazes.

5. At first glance, each piece
looks like a conceptual
sculpture, but every one of
Goto’s ceramics can be used
as functional homeware.
“My vases don’t look like
vases at first,” explains the
artist. “But if you look closer,
they’re containers to hold
water and flowers. My artwork
has sculptural elements; I
want it to have that dual
purpose.”

6. The following interview with Goto is by Emma Taggart for My Modern Met on October 7, 2019.
https://mymodernmet.com/yumiko-goto-nature-ceramics/ Accessed 02/02/2022

7. When did you first begin
working with clay?
I began to work with clay a
year after I came to the United
States from Osaka, Japan
(1999).
I took my first ceramics class
at a small college in
Tennessee. From day one, I
just loved the tactile quality of
clay and I often found myself
just lost in the creative zone
for a long period of time.

9. What do you love most about
clay as a medium?
I love making marks and
creating patterns on the clay.
Clay is a very responsive
material. I can preserve what I
did to the clay. I puncture, slice,
and tear the clay and place it in
the order that you see in the
patterns in nature.

10. There are many steps to crafting
ceramics (throwing, trimming,
glazing, etc). Which phase do
you enjoy the most?
It is so hard to point out just one. I
love the whole process, the
transformation that happens after
the firing. It is pretty magical.
I love watching something so soft
flow into my idea/thought/creativity
and become a hard object that
lasts for a very long time. That
fascinates me.

11. Last but not least, the excitement! I
often formulate my own original
glazes and seeing my pots
completely transformed after the
glaze firing is so exciting. Every time
I do glaze firing, I rush over to the
kiln and check how firing went. The
thrill of opening the kiln is still there
even after 20 years of clay
experience history.
I have a studio mate who has been
a potter for 40 years and she still
gets so excited to open the kiln after
each glaze firing. That's comforting
to watch and imagine that that's
going to be me after 20 more years.

12. Do you use a pottery wheel or are
your pieces hand-built (or both)?
I do both hand building and wheel
throwing. I was originally trained as a
sculptor and I truly enjoy sculpting
and adding texture and layers to the
surface.
Hand building comes naturally to me.
I struggled with wheel throwing at the
beginning but lately I have found a
meditative quality to the process.

13. Your work is clearly influenced by
nature. What draws you to this
theme?
I love gardening, I love to hike in the
woods.
It seems to make sense that my art is
always derive from the natural world.
Picking up the twigs and seeds and
really taking a close look at the
natural object is pretty fun. You can
find so many repetitions, patterns,
and order in nature's design.

14. Can you describe your
creative process for coming
up with a new design?
I play with the textures and form.
Sometimes I place them in a
random place and meld them
together in my head to create a
hybrid of plants and minerals.

15. How would you say your Japanese
heritage has influenced your work?
My father was a gardener and I helped with
harvesting the fruits in our backyard.
Every year, my grandmother and my mother
made homemade pickles, jam, and fruit sake
out of our harvest.
In Japan, a lot of traditional events are
strongly associated with agricultural harvest. I
had a lot of fond memories celebrating each
season with my family.
Now, I have 2 small children of my own. I
take them to Hanami (Cherry blossom
viewing) and eat Bento box under the cherry
blossom trees.

16. Do you have a favorite piece from
your collection?
My favorite collection is lidded vessels.
I call them “secret vessel.”
I design some lidded vessels to be not
so obvious that it is lidded at first
glance. I love the elements of surprise
and mystery about them.