Ikuko Iwamoto
“We may not be around for much longer, so goodbye for now. By Atlantic Salmon”, 2025
Porcelain and Antique Wooden Dough Board
187 x 23 x 29 cm
73 5/8 x 9 x 11 3/8 in
73 5/8 x 9 x 11 3/8 in
Series: “I ate lots of plastics, and now I am your dinner. Enjoy!”
CF1470
Photo: Ikuko Iwamoto
Growing up near the sea in Japan, on a diet of mainly pescatarian food, these sculptures arose from Ikuko’s concerns about modern day fishing practices which are causing irreparable damage...
Growing up near the sea in Japan, on a diet of mainly pescatarian food, these sculptures arose from Ikuko’s concerns about modern day fishing practices which are causing irreparable damage to vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems.
Ikuko comments,"These fish are the ghosts of the sea representing fish whose homes have been destroyed by fishing practices such as bottom trawling, those captured for nothing because they're too small or no suitable for market and those which have been killed by plastic waste."
Ikuko's skill and imagination have come together in this poignant work that harks back to her roots in Japan where she trained under ceramic master Asuka Tsuboi, one of the pioneering women potters to emerge in Japan in the 1970s, before coming to London encouraged by Tsuboi to study at Camberwell and the RCA. This work is a culmination of everything we love about Ikuko’s work. She creates work with sensitivity, wit, patience, incredible craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Exhibitions
Selected ExhibitionsCollect 2025, Somerset House, London