John Toki is a Japanese-American ceramic artist born and raised in the Bay Area. He received a BFA from California State University, Hayward, CA and a MFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA. His large-scale sculptures are inspired by objects in nature such as the mountains, water and sky. He says of working with clay: “It can be used for large-scale works, as well as more intimate pieces, with equal success. You can apply color by painting, glazing, or mixing it into the clay. It’s a quiet activity that you can manipulate with only your hands, you don’t need tools really. You can use it for representational works, as well as abstraction. And I really like the physical presence of clay.”

Toki has maintained a studio in Richmond, California, since 1974. His public commissions include a mural for Oakland City Hall, and outdoor public sculptures installed in San Francisco, Orinda, Davis, and Sacramento, California. Blue Back, a twenty-foot tall ceramic sculpture is on view at the Oakland Museum of California, and Spring Majesty, a twenty-four foot tall sculpture is on view at the California Shakespeare Theatre, Orinda, California. In 2016, Toki will install the sculpture ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the new University of California Art Museum, Berkeley. Exhibitions include the Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Oceanside Museum, Carnegie Museum, and the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California.

An educator for over twenty-five years, Toki retired as a faculty member from the California College of the Arts, in 2007.

In addition to his art practice, Toki has been a textbook writer for over twenty-five years, and has co-authored three books on ceramics: Hands In Clay, 5th edition, Make It In Clay 2nd edition, McGraw Hill, and Fired by Ideals, Arequipa Pottery, Pomegranate Press. He is presently the Associate Director of Mission Clay Art and Industry Program, Corona, California, and supports the arts as a board member of the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California.