A striking tea bowl of dark black glaze that appears to be inset into a gold rimmed rusted iron bowl, in fact, all of which is ceramic, by Nagai Tomoyuki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Sujibori Sabi-yu Chawan. The artist desires to create objects which seem beyond time. As if they are some fossil from the future which has made it to our time or “contemporary relics excavated in the future,” using forms derived from familiar industrial objects and glazes suggestive of rust, weathering, and excavated artifacts. This is an excellent example of his aesthetic. It is roughly 12 cm (5 inches) diameter, 7.5 cm (3 inches) tall and in perfect condition, directly from the artist.
Nagai Tomoyuki was born in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, in 1999. He graduated from the Ceramics Department of Aichi University of the Arts in 2024 and completed his graduate studies in ceramics at the same university in 2026, receiving the university’s Outstanding Work Award in 2025. He is currently based at the Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo in Ishikawa Prefecture, where he continues his ceramic practice. Drawing inspiration from the fusion of organic and inorganic forms reminiscent of science-fiction lifeforms, as well as the powerful forms of Jomon pottery, Nagai creates contemporary earthenware, tea ceramics, and sculptural works that explore an imagined intersection between the ancient and the futuristic.
