Ikuko Iwamoto's work is inspired largely by her own curiosity of the microscopic world – the cells, genes and organic forms that are invisible to the naked eye. Her meticulous attention to detail and adept technical skills enable her to uniquely interpret the world that inspires her, creating ceramic sculptures which take their reference from the tiniest of sea creatures to the minutest of micro-organisms.

Over the years Cavaliero Finn has seen Ikuko’s work and confidence grow and while her tabletop ceramic works which the gallery starting showing in 2004 are still very popular, the development of Ikuko’s sculptural pieces has been really interesting.

A development that had been dormant for several years from when she was at Tezukayama College in Japan, Ikuko’s freestanding sculptural forms have been translated into boxed frames making them more two-dimensional and thrusting them firmly into the realms of fine art, a progression that won her the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramic Prize in 2019. Speaking of Ikuko’s work at the Young Masters Art Prize exhibition, curator and art historian Stephen Feeke said:“It’s just totally original, with a reference to art history in a very interesting way, it’s surrealism, [referencing] people like Cornell, and yet it feels utterly, utterly, original in its use of ceramic and its use of mixed media.”

Ikuko is, without doubt, an artist of extreme talent on both a creative and technical level and her work ethic is an absolute inspiration, as she constantly seeks to push her work to the next level, often working until late into the night to do so.