Keita Matsunaga

Born in Tajimi, Japan (an area well known for ceramics), in 1986, Keita Matsuaga currently lives and works in Toki in Gifu prefecture.

Keita Matsunaga’s practice centers on the behavior of clay as it responds to gravity, drying, and firing—treating these processes not merely as preliminary stages, but as integral to form itself. Informed by his background in architectural studies, he uses the medium as to make visible the “memory of the land” and the accumulation of time.

Starting with raw clay, he creates a liquid slip and casts it into molds, allowing layers to emerge through sedimentation during drying. The resulting cracks, folds, and deposits are not corrected but retained, registering the material’s transformation and producing surfaces that recall geological strata or tree rings. Typically reserved as a final decorative application, Matsunaga instead uses Urushi lacquer to further dramatize these surface irregularities. Variations in the lacquer’s absorbency across the object’s surface creates further witness marks, often developing a subtle craqueler as the piece dries and is subsequently fired. 

Matsunaga’s works often contain a subtle interplay between exterior and interior. Cavities and exposed sections draw attention to the space held within, while the forms—though vessel-like—operate as sculpture, shifting between quiet stillness and structural tension.