A trailblazer in his family’s history, Koichiro Isezaki carries on his generational ceramics practice of Bizen ware. He is the first son of Living National Treasure Isezaki Jun.
He previously had an apprenticeship with New York-based ceramic artist Jeff Shapiro, who had actually studied under Koichiro’s father’s apprentice Yamashita Jyoji.
An element of chance is inherent within the creation of Bizen ware ceramics, as they involve a glaze produced through natural burning materials inserted in the kiln during the firing process. Isezaki takes this a step further with his straying from traditionality in order to come up with more creative and freer forms via multiple influences outside of his family. In his works, organized chaos and formed formlessness turn themselves on their head in order to produce something akin to his family’s work but with a more modern and textural twist.
He has recently exhibited all over Europe and frequently at Lacoste Gallery in Concord, Massachusetts.