En Iwamura

Dark Blue Head

2018

Bulbous cartoon busts populate En Iwamura’s aesthetic universe, which centers on ceramics while also spanning painting and drawing. Born in Japan to two painter parents, Iwamura developed his sculptural practice after he was rejected from Kanazawa College of Art’s painting program, and he enrolled in the school’s craft program instead. Iwamura has exhibited in Tokyo, Brussels, Chicago, and St. Louis, and in 2019, he was named an artist in residence at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan. Though his practice is largely informed by the Japanese philosophical concept of ma, which is concerned with negative space and emptiness, Iwamura considers ceramics to be an international language all its own.