Akiko Hirai produces both practical and decorative ceramic ware. Her Japanese cultural background and aesthetics strongly influence her ceramic work while her pieces are also perfectly rooted in contemporary designs.
Her work is held in private collections, and displayed in museums worldwide including the V&A (U.K.), The Fitzwillam Museum, National Museum of Ireland and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY.
Using various building techniques, including throwing, coiling, and casting, Akiko applies several layers of slips and glazes to create the complex texture and tones for each ceramic surface. Often fired using the reduction atmosphere in her gas kiln, rather than using coloured oxides to decorate her work, metal and mineral rich clays are used, alongside marginal metal and mineral content of other raw materials, to create colours that occur from the chemical reaction during her firing process. A process she compares to the ageing process of many materials over a long period of time.
Initially trained privately at the studio of UK potter Chris Bramble in 1999, Akiko then studied for a degree in Ceramic Design at Central St Martins, graduating in 2003. After her graduation she established herself as an independent potter at her studio in London and has been creating her work there since. Teaching ceramics at Kensington and Chelsea college between 2005 and 2015, before leaving to devote her time to her own practice, Akiko had risen to become head of the ceramics department.
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1315
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1314
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1252
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1256
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1323
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1318
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1319
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1321
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1324
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1320
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1317
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1316
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1313
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1310
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1298
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1292
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1308
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1286
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1311
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1300
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1291
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1295
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1303
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1302
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1293
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1288
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1297
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1284
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1289
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1307
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1309
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1299
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1312
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1306
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1290
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1305
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1294
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1304
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1285
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1296
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1287
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1283
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1268
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1267
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1282
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1271
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1274
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1276
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1278
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1277
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1266
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1272
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1273
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1270
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1269
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1264
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1263
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1275
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1279
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1265
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1280
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1281
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1260
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1262
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1261
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1259
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1258
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1253
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1241
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1244
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1255
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1243
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1247
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1250
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1251
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1254
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1248
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1249
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1246
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1242
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1233
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1239
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1216
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1218
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1225
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1237
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1228
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1217
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1226
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1220
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1219
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1227
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1222
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1229
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1238
PRODUCT CODE:AH301X1221