About
In my work, pattern is not just surface decoration. I use it as a compositional element to explore relationships among pattern, form, people, and the surrounding space.
At its core, my work asks how the relationships between pattern, form, and the space a vessel inhabits shift and become visible. In my work, pattern is not an added surface layer. It is an element that reshapes how form is perceived and how it relates to the surrounding space. I explore how pattern, the object, and the space it inhabits affect one another.
My starting point in ceramics was the theme of function and beauty, rooted in my background as an industrial designer. Over time, I began to think that a vessel could be more than an object of use. It could become a structure that brings out different relationships with people and space. I also came to see that pattern could be more than an image or motif, and could instead act as one of the elements that compose a relationship. After forming the clay body, I apply hand-cut paper stencils and layer a glaze slip made from my own formula. Once I remove the paper, I repeatedly refine the surface before and after firing.
I was born in Tokyo and raised in Yokohama, Japan. In my final year as an art history student at university, I enrolled in a design school, which opened a new path for my creativity. After design school, I began my career as an industrial designer, and later completed a master’s degree in industrial design. While working as an industrial designer in Tokyo, I encountered the world of clay and began learning hand building at a ceramic studio. After moving to the United States in 2005, I started learning wheel throwing. Today, I work from my studio in Orange County, California, where I continue to explore and challenge my creativity.
My starting point in ceramics was the theme of function and beauty, rooted in my background as an industrial designer. Over time, I began to think that a vessel could be more than an object of use. It could become a structure that brings out different relationships with people and space. I also came to see that pattern could be more than an image or motif, and could instead act as one of the elements that compose a relationship. After forming the clay body, I apply hand-cut paper stencils and layer a glaze slip made from my own formula. Once I remove the paper, I repeatedly refine the surface before and after firing.
I was born in Tokyo and raised in Yokohama, Japan. In my final year as an art history student at university, I enrolled in a design school, which opened a new path for my creativity. After design school, I began my career as an industrial designer, and later completed a master’s degree in industrial design. While working as an industrial designer in Tokyo, I encountered the world of clay and began learning hand building at a ceramic studio. After moving to the United States in 2005, I started learning wheel throwing. Today, I work from my studio in Orange County, California, where I continue to explore and challenge my creativity.
About Pattern
Pattern originally began for me as decoration. However, in my current practice, I reconsider the viewer’s preconceptions of pattern = decoration, vase = vessel, and slip = surface effect. By intentionally continuing to use pattern, which I once treated as decoration, I believe the rearranged relationship among pattern / object / environment can be brought forward more clearly, and those shifts can emerge in stronger contrast.
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Current Exhibition
2026
Group Exhibition "Texas National” Stephen F. Austin State University SFA Galleries Nacogdoches, TX
Group Exhibition "Best of 2026” Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH / Kent State University Galleries, Kent, OH
Past Exhibition
2023
Solo Exhibition "Form, pattern, and texture” Clay Center of New Orleans, New Orleans LA
Group Exhibition "All Media” Irvine Fine Art Center, Irvine CA
Group Exhibition "21a BIENNAL DE CERÀMICA D’ESPLUGUES ANGELINA ALÓS”, Can Tinturé Museum, Esplugues de Llobregat Barcelona Spain
2023
Solo Exhibition "Form, pattern, and texture” Clay Center of New Orleans, New Orleans LA
Group Exhibition "All Media” Irvine Fine Art Center, Irvine CA
Group Exhibition "21a BIENNAL DE CERÀMICA D’ESPLUGUES ANGELINA ALÓS”, Can Tinturé Museum, Esplugues de Llobregat Barcelona Spain
Eri Sugimoto
Japanese ceramic artist in Orange County, California, in the greater Los Angeles area
One-of-a-kind sculptural ceramic works