MEDEL GALLERY SHU is pleased to present Body and Thought, a solo exhibition by ceramic artist Itsuki Hayano.

Hayano completed the Master’s Program in Ceramic Art at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, in 2024. Since then, he has developed a distinctive sculptural practice that reflects contemporary human presence through ceramic figures. In recent years, his work has evolved toward a quieter, more introspective mode of expression, focusing on the subtle signs, atmospheres, and inner states that reside within the human body.

The works presented in this exhibition possess a refined sense of openness and restraint. Each figure draws the surrounding space into itself, quietly containing the passage of time. Devoid of explicit narrative or language, the sculptures create a gentle distance that allows viewers to reflect upon their own thoughts and emotions with renewed objectivity.

Through the interaction of clay, heat, and the artist’s physical actions, Hayano explores the temporal gap that arises between thought and making. As intention is gradually fixed through the firing process, thought—once separate—moves closer to the body, leaving behind traces of presence, hesitation, and transformation.

We invite visitors to experience the atmosphere and subtle tension that emerge between body and thought within this exhibition space.

As heat transfers into the clay and I begin to sense the illusion of human warmth, the work gradually takes on a human-like presence.
The sheen that appears as it cools, the face that emerges from the surface, the sensation of something standing there—I inevitably project a human presence onto it.

The act of exploring this state shifts into an encounter with something beyond control. Within the relationship between ceramic material and the body, I became deeply interested in the time difference that arises between thought and the act of making.

Physical action precedes intention, while my preferences are fixed through firing. Thought, once distant, slowly approaches the body through contact with a material that retains a reversible state.

I hope to share within this space the sensation of thought approaching—slightly delayed—toward a body that has already moved ahead.

— Itsuki Hayano