Shio Kusaka

Shio Kusaka (b. 1972) is known for her playful and instinctive approach to the medium of ceramics, Kusaka makes vessels that embrace organic imperfections, recurrent techniques and patterns, and imagery that alludes to historical, contemporary, and futuristic forms. The artist’s complex designs highlight poetic irregularities and optical qualities. Kusaka’s work is inspired by a wide range of references: personal observations, textures, patterns, architecture, fantasy, and outer space, among others.

Kusaka was born in Morioka, Japan, and moved to San Francisco in the early 1990s. After receiving her BFA in 2001 from the University of Washington, Seattle, she moved to Los Angeles, where she currently lives and works.

In early 2020, the historic Neutra VDL Studio and Residences in Los Angeles held a solo exhibition of Kusaka’s work, curated by Douglas Fogle and Hanneke Skerath. Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, held a two-person exhibition of Kusaka and Jonas Wood in 2017. Kusaka’s work has also been included in important group exhibitions, such as the Whitney Biennial (2014); Going Public: The Napoleone Collection – International Art Collectors in Sheffield, Graves Gallery, Sheffield, England (2016), which traveled to Touchstones Rochdale Museum, England (2016–2017); Recent Acquisitions in Asian Art, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio (2017); and Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2019–2022).

The artist’s first solo exhibition with David Zwirner, Shio Kusaka: one light year, was presented at the gallery’s 19th Street location in 2022. Kusaka’s second solo exhibition with the gallery was on view at David Zwirner Paris in 2024.

In 2021, Kusaka received the Isamu Noguchi Award alongside Toshiko Mori.

The artist’s work is held in public collections worldwide, including the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio; The Broad, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, the Netherlands; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.