Women of the Wheel: Toshiko Takaezu

Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) was a Japanese-American ceramicist. Drawing from her heritage, love of travel, and a deep connection to nature and spirituality, she created closed ceramic forms that emphasized presence over function. As both an artist and teacher, she advocated for art to be a path to reflection and self-expression.

For Further Reading:

• Toshiko Takaezu, Ceramic Artist, Dies at 88
• Toshiko Takaezu - Biography
• Diving Into Hidden Universes: Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within at the MFAH
• Toshiko Takaezu: Food For the Searching Soul

This month, we’re talking about Women of the Wheel – icons who turned motion into momentum and spun their legacies on spokes, skates and potter’s wheels. These women harnessed the power of the axle, pushing their crafts and professions forward through their works and lives.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello for Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're talking about women of the wheel,
icons who turned motion into momentum and spun their legacies
on spokes, skates and Potter's wheels. These women harnessed the
power of the axle, pushing their crafts and professions forward
through their works and lives. Today's Womaniquin didn't just mold clay.

(00:27):
She shaped silence, spirit, and space. Influenced by Hawaiian landscapes
and Japanese craft traditions, her work wasn't designed to hold
flowers or food. It was made to hold feeling. She
redefined what the wheel could make, and in doing so,
what it could mean. Please welcome Toshiko Takayezu. Toshika was

(00:51):
born in nineteen twenty two in Hawaii to parents originally
from Okinawa. She was from a big family, one of
eleven children. Growing up on a farm and spending summers
laboring on a sugar plantation, Toshiko was surrounded by a
mix of cultures, traditions, and natural beauty, an early influence
that would significantly impact her art. When Toshiko was eighteen

(01:13):
years old, she worked at a Commercial Ceramics Studio in Honolulu.
There she honed her pottery skills and met a mentor
who encouraged her to attend art events, plays, and performances.
She committed to her art, enrolling in weekend drawing classes
at the Honolulu Art School. Toshiko went on to study
at the University of Hawaii and then at Cranbrook Academy

(01:34):
of Art in Michigan. It was at Cranbrook that Toshiku
began to see clay not just as a means to
make art, but as poetry. There, under the mentorship of
an acclaimed Finnish seramist, Toshiko embraced experimentation. Her mentor encouraged
her to explore new forms and embrace her individuality. Self
expression was the goal. In nineteen fifty five, Toshiko took

(01:59):
a trip to Jaan to connect with her family's heritage.
She studied Zen Buddhism and learned about Mingay Japanese folk
craft ceramics. She spent time with master potters, learning about
practices old and new to inform her own. In nineteen
fifty eight, Toshiku began developing her signature form, a pot
that was completely feeled the only opening was a tiny

(02:23):
hole at the top to allow gas to escape while
in the kiln. These forms, some of which she called moons,
ranged from palm size to standing nearly six feet tall.
They were abstract and not meant to be used. Colored
and hues inspired by the crashing waves, rich sunsets, and
foggy haze of her native Hawaii. Sometimes she'd seal clay

(02:45):
beads inside the forms so that they would rattle after firing.
The forms held a secret soft sound in their body,
bridging the boundary between visual and sonic spaces. Toshiko saw
clay as a medium for meditation and emotion. She would
manually rotate her smaller works or physically circle her larger

(03:06):
pieces to glaze them, an experience she compared to dancing.
In her eyes, it was her practice, not just the
object she created, that made her final product art. As
she later explained, you are not an artist simply because
you paint or sculpture make pots that cannot be used.
When an artist produces a good piece, that work has mystery,

(03:29):
an unsaid quality. It is alive. Toshiko traveled to India, Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru,
and Yugoslavia to commune with artist friends, and experience different
cultural environments. Over time, she moved from wheel thrown forms
to large scale hand built sculptures and even bronze work.
Her ceramics were collected by major institutions, but she remained

(03:51):
deeply connected to teaching, first at the Cleveland Institute of
Art and then at Princeton, where she worked for more
than twenty five years to develop the visual art program.
Throughout her long career, Toshika received numerous honors. In nineteen
eighty seven, she was named a Living Treasure of Hawaii,
an award given to master artists who preserve and elevate

(04:12):
cultural traditions. She was also the recipient of a National
Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and received honorary doctorates from
institutions including Princeton University and the University of Hawaii. Toshiko
passed away in Honolulu in twenty eleven, but her work
continues to resonate, standing high and low in galleries. Her

(04:32):
forms invite stillness. They remind us that the wheel can
shape more than just objects. It can shape presents. All month,
we're talking about Women of the Wheel. For more information,
find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special
thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.
Talk to you tomorrow.