Akio Niisato was born in Chiba in 1977, and in 2001 completed his training at the Tajimi City Ceramic and Design Center in a region famous for its dense, rich ceramic history.

Niisato is strongly influenced by traditional Chinese and Japanese porcelains and explores the inherent qualities of porcelain clay that have contributed to its desirability over the centuries. He eschews popular applied surface decorations and enhances his sleek modern porcelain vessels and sculptural forms solely with the play of light through small glazed “windows” in the translucent surfaces. After he throws the exceptionally thin wall pieces, he uses a small drill to create patterned openings in the clay.
During the final firing, his elegant pearl white glaze fills the drilled apertures, allowing the play of light to endow these delicate forms with a luminescence comparable to glass.

Public Collection:

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Musee Cernuschi, Paris
Minneapolis Institute of Art (USA)
Victoria and Albert Museum (UK)
Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan
MOA Museum of Arts, Shizuoka, Japan
Museo della Ceramica di Faenza, Italy
Anadole University Museum, Eskisehir, Turkey
Museo Carlo Zauri, Italy