Artist: Shumpei Yamaki
Shumpei Yamaki, IOWA
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I feel free to communicate with my own language through art. Direct action in the process of creating art is the key to communicating effectively. Results of my action reflect my inner perception.
Initially I came to the United States to see the origin of street dance. Learning street dance has taught me how to communicate with others visually and emotionally. My former experience in Hip-Hop culture and Capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art) still exists in my body and soul, blending with and influencing my wheel throwing techniques. When I dance, I dance with flow and force. I dance to express my primitive spirit, and my intuition is exactly what I feel at that moment, completely removed from myself.
I view clay on the pottery wheel as a sort of stage for myself as a dancer. When water flows on the surface of clay on a pottery wheel, my hands dance to rhythm and my mind stretches into meditation. Imagination and feelings about clay and water take me to a state of mind as "second nature". As street dance and clay combine through me, the true primitive concepts of these two art forms communicate themselves to the audience; one is ephemeral, the other is permanent.
EDUCATION
2005
M.F.A. – Ceramics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
2001- 2002
Apprentice to Richard Bresnahan, Artist in Residence, St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota
2000
B.A. – Archeololgy, University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse, Lacrosse, Wisconsin.
EXHIBITION RECORD
2012
Serendipity: Functional Invitational, Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, North Carolina
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Architecture and Design, Iowa City, Iowa
2011
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Architecture and Design, Iowa City, Iowa
2010
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Architecture and Design, Iowa City, Iowa
Tea Bowl National 2010, KC Clay Guild, kansas City, Missouri
2009
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Architecture and Design, Iowa City, Iowa
2008
Bunny McBride Retrospective, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa
Points of Entry: Urban Clay Invitational, in conjunction with the International Sculpture Conference october 2008, Urban INstitute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ceramics At Work, Gloria Kennedy Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
National Cup Show 2008 (Juror: Leslie Ferrin), Poughkeepsie, New York
11th Annual Tokyo-New York friendship ceramic competition, New York City, New York
2007
National Juried Teabowl Competition (First Place, Jurors: Regis Brodie, Leslie Ferst ), Beekman Street Artists’ Studios and Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York
By the Ounce, NCECA 2007 International Juried Exhibition (Juror: John Neely), Louisville Stoneware, Louisville, Kentucky
Empty Spaces (Juror: Peg Malloy), Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, Colorado
2006
Holding Tea: 14 Artists Create Tea Vessels. Group Exhibition (Curator: Liz Rudey), Verdigris Art and Tea, Hudson, New York
Ceramic Art Meshiwan Grand Prix (Juror: Nakajima Seinosuke), Nagoya Dome Stadium, Nagoya city, Japan
Jersey Shore Clay National (Juror: Doug Casebeer), M.T. Burton Gallery of Contemporary Ceramics Sculpture and Pottery, Surf City, New Jersey
National Juried Cup Show:(Juror: Jason Hess), The School of Art's Downtown Gallery, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
2005
Made By Hand, Meant For Use (Juror: Dick Lehman), Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan
Coe College Art Show: The University of Iowa Graduate Student Exhibition, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Graduation (Solo Exhibition), Glass Lodge Art Space, Iowa City, Iowa
MFA Student Exhibition, University of Iowa Art Museum, Iowa City, Iowa
2004
The Naked Truth: International Juried Wood Fire Exhibition (Jurors: Ryoji Koie, Janet Mansfield, Don Reitz), Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Gems from the Fire: Juried Wood Fired Exhibition (Jurors: Charles A. Hinds and Gerry Eskin), Iowa Hall Gallery, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
International Artists Exhibition, Public Space One, Iowa City, Iowa
Three Artists Collaboration: Catherine Cole, Josh Doster, Shumpei Yamaki, Glass Lodge Art Space, Iowa City, Iowa
2003
The University of Iowa Ceramics: Student Exhibit and Sale, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa
Body of Clay Soul of Fire: Richard Bresnahan and the St John's Pottery: (Traveling Invitational Exhibition), Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, Wisconsin; Tweed Museum Of Art, Duluth, Minnesota; University of Minnesota, Morris, Minnesota; Visual Art Center at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; St. John's University Art Center, Alice R Rogers and Target Galleries, Collegeville, Minnesota
2000
Juried Student Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Naked Truth: 2004 International Juried Wood Fire Exhibition (Exhibition Catalog)
Matthew Welch, Body of Clay, Soul of Fire, Forward by Gerry Williams: Afton Historical Society Press, 2001
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2008
Workshop: Wood-FIring, Oxbow, Saugatcuk, Michigan
2006-2009
Adjunct Associate Professor (Introduction to Ceramics and Introduction to the Potter’s Wheel), Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn, New York
2005-2009
Studio Manager, Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn, New York
2007
Workshop: Techniques of Electric Firing and Japanese Style Throwing, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
2005
Artist in Residence and Co-Instructor, "Wood-Fire Kiln Building", Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Instructor, "Klay for Kids", Kendall College of Art and Design, Ferris State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2004-2005
Teaching Assistant (Instructor of Record), "Introduction to Hand Building", University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
2003
Studio Assistant to Mark Skudlarek (Potter), Cambridge Wood Fired Pottery, Cambridge, Wisconsin
2002-2003
Teaching Assistant, "Kiln Technician", University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa