Meet: Yukiko Hiromatsu, Ceramicist.
Meet Yukiko Hiromatsu. We visited her at the Kiln Rooms in South London to find out her journey.
Creating beautiful and thoughtful pieces, Yukiko's minimalist ceramics focus on form, finish, and every-day usefulness through clean lines and a calming colour palette. Proving that form and function can go hand in hand...
Tell us a little bit about your journey and what it took to become a full-time ceramicist?
I started about 10 years ago, when my daughter was around 7 years old and I was basically going through a bit of a mid-life crisis! Sewing had been a part of my life since leaving Goldsmith's in the mid 90s and I had been making kids clothes, bags etc since my daughter was a baby but it just didn’t feel right. I wanted to make something a bit more universally useful and I was looking at my cereal bowl one morning thinking anyone would be able to use this regardless of age or gender so I looked it up on internet and found a course at Morley college in Waterloo East where I started taking ceramics lesson once a week. I got hooked and just wanted to do more and more so I found Turning Earth in Hoxton where I could pay monthly to go and work. When the Kiln Rooms opened it was much closer to home so I signed up to the waiting list and joined in 2016.
Is there a strong creative community at the Kiln Rooms?
I love it at the Kiln Rooms, I feel like I really connect with the other makers at the Kiln Rooms and because as full-time members we all have our own space but you’re able to build up familiarity and a sense of community where you feel completely safe. Everyone here is so diverse and really respects each others work. I feel very fortunate to be a member of the Kiln Rooms and have met many wonderful people through this place - we are united by a love of clay!
You originally trained and worked in menswear. How do you feel your background in fashion influences your ceramics?
My earliest memory of wanting something simple in my life when I was 11 in the 80s, everyone was wearing rara skirts and pastels and all I wanted to wear was a white t-shirt and grey trousers, ever since then I have been looking for a sense of simplicity and the idea that less is more. When studying I was much more drawn to the menswear designers, I remember seeing Nicola Tassie’s work for Margaret Howell and I fell in love with the simplicity. Menswear is about small details, the shape, the cut, and minimal colour palette, and the beauty is in the cut and the finish. When making ceramics instead of making things with embellishment I am drawn more to making simple tablewares, where the focus is on the form and the finish.
What's a typical day in the life of Yukiko?
I’m here 6 days a week and I spend most of my day from 9.30 - 4 here at the Kiln Rooms then travel home to spend time with my family, a bath and bed! But being here is like being on holiday for me! I do enjoy travelling but I’m such a hermit, I’m always reluctant to go away as I hate being disrupted and I would be here 24/7 if I could be - I’m obsessed with making! To make good pots takes time and you need to make and make and make.
Would you say you’re a bit of a perfectionist?
Maybe, but when you look at for example - masterful Korean artists work, it is too perfect to me and I don’t like that. There are degrees of perfection which are different according to the individuals taste and to me the perfect pot is not perfectly produced and it’s not just about the throwing but it’s also about applying the glaze and how you are focused when making each individual piece.
What advice would you have for makers at the start of their journey?
Have fun and enjoy it - it’s such a pleasurable and satisfying thing to do anything creative. For me making something useful is very satisfying but for others it’s just to create and to be able to use your hand and tools to achieve something which only existed before in your head.
Is there a favourite piece you like to make or are really proud of?
The things I like to make, want to make, and the things I achieve making are all a bit different. A mug for example is quite difficult and frustrating but I’d love to make more and get better. The large carafes I am improving every time so I am enjoying making those. Or plates - I want to make things I’m not good at so I can get better at them like dinner plates - because when it is done it’s so satisfying.
Are there any other influences on your work?
So many artists - the big ones like Bernard Leach, Nicola Tassie. So many Japanese and Korean artists. There are ceramicists here who really inspire me so I’m lucky to be around that. But a lot of my inspiration comes from utility and using pottery at home, deciding what I want in my life at that moment - for example cereal bowls with a lid so it can act as a plate for toast also. The usefulness inspires and motivates me!
Also Stuart Carey is definitely a big influence for me, he originally founded Turning Earth, then opened the Kiln Rooms with Ben Cooper. One of the reasons I moved to the Kiln Rooms is that they have so many great artists including Stuart teaching the classes there. He definitely is the driving force of the great atmosphere and community spirit of the Kiln Rooms!
Okay! Quick Fire Four:
Favourite spot to get a coffee?
There are so many good places nearby in Peckham - Nola, The General Store…
What book or tv show are you currently enjoying?
I just watched the French comedy Call My Agent on Netflix - it’s so fun and the subtitles helped me brush up on my French!
Which artist or maker are you loving at the moment?
There’s a member of the Kiln Rooms called Caroline Grey who's recently moved over to the Copeland Park studio. She is truly an amazingly talented artist, and I feel so lucky to have met her.
And lastly your favourite Popham’s pastry?
I love everything! But if I had to choose it would be the Sea Salt & Rosemary twist!
Find out more at www.ydotpottery.co.uk
Follow Yukiko @y.pottery