EXHIBITION OPEN: Friday 3 March, 10am – 4pm AEDT
View the collection in person at
Room 13, Level 8 The Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Messums is thrilled to announce the arrival of new works by international artist Makoto Kagoshima in Melbourne, Australia this March.
Based in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan, Makoto Kagoshima originally studied ceramics in Okinawa, Japan before working in the design sector and becoming a full-time artist at age 35. Since then, his work has been translated into fashion and textiles, prints and is held in numerous private and corporate collections worldwide.
On carved and moulded terracotta bodies, Makoto creates dreamlike scenes composed within everyday ceramic forms. Curling tendrils, bursting blooms, darting fish, soaring birds, and mythological creatures are painstakingly applied by hand to each piece, drawing reference from his childhood spent in Japan. Working freehand, forms are drawn in pencil on bisque-fired clay before blocks of colour are painstakingly applied using a paintbrush. Each piece takes days to create. Toothpicks, shells, and other found objects are used to etch fine lines in his lyrical illustrations, adding detail and texture to each piece,
Both intimate and fantastical, his works call to mind traditional and contemporary Japanese design, as well as Romanesque art and the designs of antecedents like William Morris and Maija Isola of Marimekko. Unique and beloved by collectors worldwide, his work is held in numerous private and corporate collections collection.