We had the opportunity to visit Maki Nakamura's Maki Glass Studio in Kyoto, where we had the opportunity to tour the studio and speak with her.
The studio was renovated and taken over from the space that Nakamura's parents previously used as an architectural design office. The room he showed us through was decorated with documents about houses designed by his father, books on pottery, and beautiful works by his friends; it was a space filled with all the things Nakamura loves.
-What led you to become a glass artist?-
Her parents worked in architectural design, and many of her relatives and friends were artists or involved in making things, so from a young age she would watch them talk happily about their creative activities.
With these influences, it was only natural that I had been considering a career in the arts since high school, but one day, when I was looking at glass objects by Shibuya Ryoji (former director of the Toyama City Glass Art Museum), I was shocked by the objects made from glass, a material that is so familiar to me, and I was strongly attracted to glass works, which led me to pursue a career as a glass artist.
-The journey to becoming a glass artist-
Although he became interested in glasswork, in the 1990s there were no universities in Kyoto where he could study glasswork, and no easy-to-research system was available. Therefore, he studied ceramic art at Kyoto City University of Arts, a familiar place where his father had graduated, where he majored in ceramics.
However, Nakamura still had an interest in glasswork, so during his university days he took a break to study glassmaking at a glass workshop in Noto for a short period of time. He experienced firsthand how difficult glassmaking is and realized that he could not create glasswork without serious consideration. However, when he was about to graduate from his fourth year of university, his teacher informed him that the Toyama Glass Art Institute had been established, and his passion for glasswork was rekindled, so he decided to enroll.
While studying at the Toyama Glass Art Institute, he learned all about glass, but he focused on creating objects.
He honed his pottery making skills after graduating and getting a job at Toyama Glass Studio.
"When it comes time for farewell parties, we receive orders for dozens of the same dishes as gifts. For this reason, we need to make the same shape and size of dishes in a short period of time, and by continuing to make them day after day, we have been able to hone our skills."
After completing his three-year term at the studio, he worked freelance, renting glass kilns around the country and exhibiting his works at exhibitions for about five years before returning to Kyoto and deciding to start his own glass studio.
- Until the glass workshop was launched -
When he decided to go independent, it was quite a challenge for an individual to purchase a glass kiln, so he asked Naoya Arakawa, a glass artist active in Kyoto Prefecture, to train him on how to build a kiln himself.
At this time, Nakamura was already exhibiting his work as a freelancer, so rather than being an apprentice, he attended Arakawa's glass workshop specifically to learn how to make kilns.
He said, "I am truly grateful. I can't sleep at night without thinking."
[About production activities and facilities]
"Creating glass works requires spending half of your time and effort on the work itself and the other half on maintaining the equipment."
The three furnaces in Nakamura's workshop that we were shown were all originally kerosene furnaces that Nakamura had made, but due to rising fuel prices following the Lehman Shock and adverse weather conditions, some of them were changed to electric kilns.
At first glance, if you just look at the beautiful works, it seems unrelated to such issues, but it seems that the most important thing in creating glass works is the management of the equipment.
In addition to daily maintenance of the equipment, Nakamura responds flexibly to changes in the environment, such as global affairs and climate change, and continues to create glass works while updating his equipment.
He has a very friendly and gentle personality, but behind that lies his dedication to creating his work, overcoming various difficulties, and I was once again reminded of his passion.
-Source of inspiration for the work-
Surprisingly, he says that his inspiration comes not from glassworks, but from visiting exhibitions of ceramics and other materials.
"What if we were to express these things in glass?"
"How would you go about doing it?"
I think about this and apply it to my own work.
When serving food or going out to eat,
What kind of dish would look best served with this food?
It seems that the works are designed with the actual situations in which they will be used in mind.
"I strive to create pieces that are not only beautiful, but also make food look great, and that are easy to use and coordinate with other pieces when lined up on the table," he said.
◎Finally, we asked customers how they would like to use the product.
"I hope you will use it freely and enjoy it.
Some customers use our products in wonderful ways that the makers never even imagined, and this is a learning experience for us.
I hope that those who purchase it will enjoy it for their own purposes." 