Grant Akiyama



Grant Akiyama

About The Artist

Grant Akiyama • Tulsa, OK
Ceramics

I approach my work to highlight an awe for nature’s patterns, dissonance, and insights. I have cultivated a strong inquiry towards biology and minerology as a means of connecting myself to the world. I assumed the more I studied history and experienced nature, then I would possess a stronger bond to the macrocosm I inhabit. I currently illustrate this deference for natural forms through studies of fantastic geologic designs.



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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

I primarily use single source clay bodies that I modify for midfire ceramics. I add a variety of aggregates, such as coconut coir, perlite, vermiculite, and calcined bentonite, to achieve specific surface qualities. I work through various studio practices, often oscillating between wheel thrown and handbuilding techniques.


What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

The material qualities of clay invite unabated curiosity. Ceramics inhabits a Goldilocks zone amongst science, craft, abstraction, and mimesis that seems inexhaustible to inquiry. The sheer breadth of aesthetics and functions ceramic objects occupy across the world is astonishing. This material helped humans reach the moon, while unassumingly keeping a beverage warm.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

Whenever I get the chance to travel, my favorite places to visit are botanical gardens and public aquariums in addition to art museums. I remember spending an entire day at the Atlanta Botanical Garden when I was visiting for the Southern Graphics Council International Conference. I keep a few freshwater aquariums and I have a modest collection of tropical plants from various professionals and hobbyists. I respect the craft involved in keeping these sorts of things alive.