Kiichi Takeuchi: in passing

October 21 – 31, 2026 | Noon-5 PM  (Closed Monday)               

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

in passing brings together two bodies of ceramic work by Kiichi Takeuchi, Kimono Saggar and Momoke. Through different approaches to working with clay and fire, Takeuchi explores how objects take shape through processes of building, removing, and allowing materials to become.

In Kimono Saggar, Takeuchi reinterprets the traditional ceramic saggar, a protective container used during kiln firing. He creates openings that allow flame, ash, and vapor to enter and leave marks on the vessels inside. The saggar becomes both a shelter and a tool for directing fire. Each finished surface emerges from a balance between the artist’s decisions and the unpredictability inside the kiln. Momoke emerged in 2024 when Takeuchi started to work with locally excavated wild clay from Long Island and Pennsylvania. The Japanese term describes a soft, slightly worn or frayed quality. He works directly into the clay, cutting, scraping, and carving away material with industrial tools such as saw blades, steel pipes, and chisels rather than traditional pottery tools. Using a layered construction technique known as nerikomi, Takeuchi builds forms that resemble geological formations. As he removes material, the layers underneath become visible. The surfaces carry marks of both the clay’s natural qualities and the physical process of shaping it. 

Both series collectively explore how materials respond to the artist’s actions. Fire passes through openings and leaves marks on the clay. Layers are built up and cut away to reveal what lies underneath. Each piece carries traces of how it was made, what has once been there and is no longer visible.

Kiichi Takeuchi

Kiichi Takeuchi (b. 1979, Tokyo, Japan) is a New York-based ceramic artist whose practice explores the relationship between material, fire, memory, and human intervention. Working primarily with wood firing, wild clay, and both wheel-thrown and hand-built forms. He develops surfaces through natural ash, flame, layered clay, and processes of removal. His ongoing series include Kimono Saggar and Momoke, both of which examine the tension between control and chance, construction and absence. Takeuchi has presented at NCECA and wood firing conferences in the United States, and teaches pottery and sculpture at Long Island University.

Exhibition Coordinator: Bing Lu