Chuck Aydlett

Akio Takamori who is known for his coil-built figurative sculptures in which the narrative painting defines the form. The use of figurative, narrative surfaces is also carried through to his wheel thrown vessels. His work is often autobiographical, drawing on his life in Japan, his family, as well as mythological themes.

Takamori?s three-dimensional works explore the interplay between sculpture and painting. His surface drawings of male and female figures, often in sexual positions, swirl around the outside and the inside of his vessels. He has also created a large body of work on paper.

In 2001 Takamori was the first place recipient of the Virginia A. Groot Foundation Award.

Heemigrated to the United States in 1994 to study with Ken Ferguson.

An interview with Akio Takamori conducted March 20 and 21, 2009 by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art?s Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America is available athttp://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-akio-takamori-15660.