Biography

Here is a short biography of the artist, taken from her official website:

"Niho Kozuru (髙鶴丹穂) is a Japanese-born artist based in Boston, Massachusetts. Kozuru is a member of a family of ceramists from Fukuoka, Japan. Her family has been making Agano-ware ceramics (上野焼) for hundreds of years on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan. Agano-ware dates back to 1602, with its origins in Japanese tea ceremonies.

Kozuru moved to the United States at the age of 12, when her father became a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Ceramics Studio. Since that time, she has lived cross-culturally. While educated in the U.S., she maintains strong connections to her Japanese heritage.

Having grown up in a family of artists and craftspeople, grounded in Japan's rich tradition of ceramics, architecture and design while geographically located both in Japan and in New England, Kozuru's work reflects her varied life experience. Inspired by American architecture, crafts, and the decorative arts of New England, Kozuru’s interest in hand-turned architectural ornaments honors both the ceramic ancestry of her Japanese family and her upbringing in Massachusetts. Through this hybrid connection, Kozuru strives to share stories, cultural history and her personal identity.

Kozuru explores the shapes of turned wood and turned ceramics. She reconfigures and recontextualizes New England’s iconic motifs such as finials, balusters and urns, which are ubiquitous, yet often overlooked. Kozuru renews these symbolic objects in contemporary materials with an unexpected blast of color, giving them new spirit and new life. Through color and form, Kozuru spreads positive vibrations, inspired by her father’s artwork and use of vibrant glazes that recall her family’s artistic heritage. Kozuru believes color has energy and art is a universal language that connects all people.

Kozuru received her BFA from the Parsons School of Design in New York, NY, and her MFA from University of Hawaii, Honolulu. She has shown at galleries and museums including at the ICA/Boston and the Fukuoka City Art Museum. She has been a recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant. Kozuru’s artwork is held in the collections of deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum, Sheldon Museum of Art, Danforth Museum of Art, Fuller Craft Museum, Fidelity Investments, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Nogata Tanio Museum, among others."