Keiko Sato – 'The Porous', Sculpture in Orange, 2024

"The Porous, is the result of my sincere engagement with ceramics, emerging as an answer through my dialogue with clay. It embodies the paradox that, while I attempt to control clay, a natural material, I am also controlled by its inherent characteristics. My works are always created through a process filled with tension—battling the brief window of time suitable for drying and shaping, balancing the clay’s mass, gravity, and strength, and taking on the challenge of glaze firing, which always carries the risk of ruining all prior efforts."

"This work is a collaborative project between myself and clay, capturing the chemical reactions that occur when craftsmanship meets art. Every step of the process is carried out at the leather-hard stage, and when everything aligns perfectly, the result is a piece that exudes a lightness—so delicate that one can glimpse the other side—while retaining the tactile qualities of ceramics." - Keiko Sato.

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Keiko Sato is a Sydney based artist, brand name – Yamaneco Pottery, originally from Japan. She was drawn to ceramics, fascinated by the concept of handcrafting items for the daily routine of life. She learnt her base ceramic techniques in Mashiko, Japan, which is one of the most famous Japanese pottery production regions. Her art works are supported by Japanese traditional skills, creating challenging sculptures, unique technics which bring beautiful, harmonised texture to her works. She is particularly interested in creating the artworks with the skills used to make traditional vessels, and I continue to explore new possibilities for dialogue with clay.

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Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize 2025

 2 – 30 August

Mud Australia is partnering with Craft to present this year's Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize. Now in its fifth year, the prize is open to all Australian ceramicists and awards innovative, sustainable and emerging talent with a $10,000 fund to support and accelerate their practice. This year, for the first time, the selected finalists are celebrated in a four-week exhibition in Craft's Atrium gallery space.

The SSCP was established in 2020 by Shelley Simpson – Mud Australia’s Founder and Creative Director – and continues to recognise and support emerging and early-career ceramicists working across the spectrum of contemporary practice.

Read more about the exhibition here: