Makoto Komatsu was born in Tokyo in 1943 and trained in crafts and design at Musashino Junior College of Art. From 1970 to 1973 he worked in Sweden as assistant to Stig Lindberg at the Gustavsberg pottery, then returned to Japan, founded Komatsu Studio and, from 1999 to 2013, taught as a professor at Musashino Art University.
Crinkle
His best-known work began with an observation about plaster: left to harden on a surface, it takes on that surface’s pattern. He tried cardboard, rubber and cloth, and the wrinkles of a paper bag became the favorite. The result, from 1975, is the Crinkle series, porcelain that looks like a crumpled paper bag. The Crinkle paper-bag vase is the classic, and Crinkle pieces are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass.
“One of its paper-bag vases went on to join MoMA’s permanent collection.”
LoftModern, on Ceramic Japan
Yagi and Tori
Ceramic Japan, in the old pottery town of Seto, has produced his designs for decades. In 2023 it introduced two playful teapots he designed, the goat-shaped Yagi and the bird-shaped Tori.
- Crinkle series in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Also collected by the V&A and the Corning Museum of Glass
- Grand Prix, International Ceramics Festival Mino, 1986
Shop Makoto Komatsu at LoftModern
3 pieces, each from a different design, ready to order
Crinkle Paper-Bag Vase in White by Makoto KomatsuFrom $120Shop now→
Yagi Goat Teapot by Makoto Komatsu, Ceramic JapanFrom $190Shop now→
Tori Bird Teapot by Makoto Komatsu, Ceramic JapanFrom $190Shop now→
Read more about Japanese craft
Sources: LoftModern product listings for Ceramic Japan; the Japanese Design Archive Survey interview with Makoto Komatsu (PLAT); the Museum of Modern Art collection records.