As a third-generation Hawaiian with ancestry from Japan, Esther Shimazu has rich sources of visual imagery to draw upon to sculpt her ceramic figures. Trained within Hawaii and on the mainland at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Shimazu possesses a well-educated perspective. Inspired by others before her, including Toshiko Takaezu, she has developed a distinctive aesthetic that borrows from her heritage and life.

The works that have made her one of Hawaii’s best-known contemporary artists reflect her interest and respect for Polynesian beauty standards. In defiance of Western expectations, Shimazu’s figures are often rotund with emphasized stomachs. She strives to normalize nakedness in her sculpture, both as a means to leave the corpulent figures uncovered and as a reflection of the lesser needs of clothing in temperate temperatures on the Hawaiian Islands. Her intricate and adept sculptures often blend clay media, as she incorporates minute porcelain features (such as teeth) within larger stoneware compositions. Despite the robust nature of the figure themselves, there is a delicacy Shimazu achieves that is reminiscent of Japanese netsuke. Her frequent integration of traditional emblems of Japanese culture, such as elegant folding fans, is a further hallmark of Shimazu’s work. 

Held in conjunction with 30 Ceramic Sculptors and the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts, this solo exhibition specially highlights Shimazu’s incredible figurative and ceramic achievements.