Kitamura Junko grew up in a historical part of Kyoto and was a student of two of Japan’s most prominent modern artists: Suzuki Osamu and Kondo Yutaka. She blends modern visual sensibilities with patterns evocative of Jomon period (10,500–300 BC) pottery and clay from the ancient pottery center of Shigaraki.

Kitamura uses a sharpened bamboo stick to impress delicate geometric designs into the body of vessels like this one. She covers the piece with a dark slip (liquid clay) before the initial firing, after which she applies white slip to each indentation.