A palm-sized sculptural piece by the rising young ceramic artist Mukai Naoko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hakko. Fascinated by living creatures since childhood, Mukai creates works that feel as though they have emerged from the sea—forms that carry the quiet breath of the earth itself. Created in 2024, this piece measures 13.5 x 13 x 11 cm (5 1/4 x 5 x 4 1/4 inches) and was acquired directly from the artist in late 2025. It remains in perfect condition. In this work she focuses on the contradiction of an organic form punctuated with a concise pattern of holes.
Mukai Naoko was born in Tokyo in 1999, and graduated from Musashino Art University in 2023 with a degree in Crafts and Industrial Design, specializing in ceramics, and completed the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center in 2025. Representing a new generation of ceramic artists, her work has already been presented internationally and domestically, including Talking Flowers at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (2022), ishoken: A New Wind at Nihombashi Takashimaya (Tokyo, 2024), and Alluring Forms at Gallery Voice (Tajimi, 2025). In 2025, she was selected for the 6th Kanazawa World Crafts Triennale at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, marking her emergence onto a broader contemporary craft stage.
