Artist Statement
Eri Maeda

Eri Maeda makes surreal stoneware sculptures that sit between the familiar and the strange. Using hand-building techniques and bright color, she creates playful but uncomfortable pieces. Her work reflects her background—growing up in Japan and now living in Paris—and focuses on ideas like shame, silence, and the gender expectations placed on people.

As a child, she was taught to behave in very specific ways, especially because of her gender: to be quiet, polite, and small. Her sculptures respond to that by becoming awkward and emotional. They often look like strange creatures. These forms are not meant to be useful. They are meant to make people feel something—sometimes confused, amused, or even disturbed.

She values working with clay because it is soft and easy to shape at first, but becomes hard and solid in the end. She builds by hand so the pieces have irregular shapes and surfaces.

Humor is important to her. It helps her talk about difficult things. If someone laughs or feels uneasy when they see her work, that is okay. She wants people to ask: What do we accept as normal? What are we hiding behind politeness? What rules are we following without thinking?

Living in France has made her think more about cultural differences—how Japanese ideas of quietness meet European ways of expressing emotion. This mix of influences shapes her work.

In the end, she always returns to one question: What stories are we told about who we should be—and what happens when those stories don’t fit? Clay helps her explore those questions. It lets her build new forms and new ways to think about the self.