Collection: Shumpei Yamaki

Shumpei Yamaki was born and raised in Kamakura, Japan and moved to Philadelphia in 1996 to study dance. Later, Yamaki was injured in an automobile accident and enrolled in a ceramics class as physical therapy for his arm. He discovered his passion for ceramics and learned traditional Japanese pottery techniques, wood-firing, and ways to rely on local resources during his apprenticeship under Richard Bresnahan. Yamaki now resides in Iowa where he combines his passions for dance and ceramics. He says, “I view clay on the pottery wheel as a sort of stage for myself as a dancer.”  Yamaki is mainly working on functional ceramics and has been experimenting with local clay in his personal endeavors as a wood-fire potter.