Ceramic artists
G&M works
Based in Shinshū-Shinmachi, Nagano, Japan
Career
Gangi Matohama — Born in Miyazaki and raised in Tokyo.
Midori Yasutake — Born in Hara, Suwa District, Nagano.
Moved to Shinshū-Shinmachi, Nagano, and established a studio in a mountain farmhouse.
Began making everyday vessels together as G&M works.
Since the 2000s — Presented work at galleries and craft events across Japan.
Today — Make donabe, heat-resistant vessels, tableware, and kyūsu for everyday life from their base in Shinshū-Shinmachi, Nagano.
Main work: donabe, heat-resistant vessels, tableware, and kyūsu teapots.
About the artists
Gangi Matohama and Midori Yasutake live and work together, making vessels for everyday life in the mountains of Shinshū-Shinmachi, Nagano.
Their work does not pursue perfect regularity. Natural variation remains in the colors, contours, and glazes, and some teapots and cups use driftwood directly for their handles. The combination of rough clay and wood worn smooth by running water gives the vessels a freedom that does not fit neatly into either “Japanese” or “Western” categories.
Donabe and heat-resistant vessels are especially important to their practice. Their earthen pots, heat-resistant dishes and bowls, and ceramic frying pans can be used directly for searing, stir-frying, simmering, and cooking rice, then brought straight to the table. One vessel connects the kitchen and the dining table.
Their work often begins with a very simple thought: “It would be nice to have a vessel like this,” or “I want to use it to make this kind of food.”
A vessel is not an object that exists apart from life. Through cooking, serving, and use, it gradually finds its place.