Woodworker
potehouse
Based in Nagasaki, Japan
Career
2002 — Born in Nagasaki.
After high school — Continued working for a company while making a wide range of things, including illustrations and handmade goods.
2025 — Studied wood-carved cutlery and began working seriously as a maker.
Today — Based in Nagasaki, exploring many forms of making that grow out of everyday life.
Main work: wood-carved cutlery and goods featuring original characters.
About the artist
Kokomi Kawauchi runs potehouse. After exploring many forms of making, from illustrations to handmade goods, she now creates wood-carved cutlery and goods featuring original characters.
Small, familiar things such as bears, rabbits, flowers, and sweets become motifs for her work. Their charming forms, reminiscent of a scene from a story, are shaped into everyday tools such as spoons and forks.
Each piece is carved by hand while bringing out the character of the wood, so even the same motif carries a slightly different expression. The grain, carving marks, and subtle shifts in form become part of each work’s individuality.
Without being limited by materials or forms of expression, she gives shape through her hands to the things that stay with her in daily life. This freedom of making is what connects her work to potehouse.