Gallery kit · 2025 / 2026

Azami Ballart
Kobayashi

Ceramic sculptor, Paris

Three series · Three generations · One lineage

Discover

Introduction

A practice at the crossroads of Japan and Catalonia

Azami Ballart Kobayashi shapes matter as one tries to hold what escapes: the repeated effect of movement, the imprint of time, the memory of nature.

Born into a family of Kiyomizu (清水焼) artisans, she hand-builds her pieces using the coil technique, in stoneware and porcelain. Her work moves between uninhabited sculptures and contained vessels, animated by openings, ridges, shadows. Each series explores a plastic question: stone as will (Ishi), totem as gaze (Koboku), lantern as inhabited silence (Toro).

The studio formulates its entire glaze range in-house, in an independent and measured production. Firing is at high temperature (1245 °C). Clay scraps are recovered, the kiln optimised. Ecological coherence is part of the practice, not an addition.

Ensemble de quatre sculptures Ishi en porcelaine et grès

Lineage and training

Three generations of ceramicists

清水焼

Kiyomizu-yaki heritageGranddaughter of Masaaki (正明) Kobayashi, founder of an ikebana vase workshop in Kyoto after the Second World War, and daughter of a ceramicist, Azami received the teaching of gesture before formalising it.

2013

Fine Arts degreeUniversity of Bilbao, Bellas Artes.

2013-2016

Immersion at the Kobayashi studioThree years at the family workshop, Kyoto region. Apprenticeship in techniques transmitted from generation to generation.

Since 2016

Independent studio in ParisThree series in progress: Ishi, Koboku, Toro. Production in stoneware and porcelain, in-house glaze formulation, high-temperature firing.

Duo de sculptures Ishi de tailles contrastées

Approach

Holding what escapes

Form emerges slowly, through patience.

Will, hard as stone, lets itself be shaped by the repeated gesture; then dynamics appear, then texture. Inside some pieces, a textured blue glaze evokes water, like a secret revealed only on closer approach.

The openings, in Koboku and Toro, are not holes: they are points of view. An elongated window invites approach, a circle suggests a mouth ready to speak. Each piece waits for a direction to be chosen, for something to be given to behold.

The work is rooted in a search for harmony and purity, anchored in family transmission and nourished by movement between Catalonia, Japan and France.

Works

Three series in progress

Ishi石

The stones.

Pieces closed or opening like a shell. Inner glaze blue, textured like water.

Koboku小木

The small trees.

Totems with minimalist silhouettes, animated by round or rectangular openings that look back.

Toro灯籠

The lanterns.

Tall pieces, doubly open: rectangular window at the top, vertical ridges along the body. Transparent inner glaze.

Full inventory, dimensions and priceswww.azamiballartkobayashi.com/catalogue

Studio and teaching

A studio in Les Lilas, ten minutes from Paris

The studio is located at 91 rue de Noisy-le-Sec, 93260 Les Lilas. It hosts the production of the three series, glaze formulation and teaching.

For four years, Azami has taught ceramics to a small group of adults, ten students per week, around modelling techniques, high-temperature firing and glaze formulation. Teaching availability: evenings and Saturdays.

Studio visits are possible by appointment, for a direct presentation of selected pieces or to discuss a project.

Quatre sculptures céramiques : Toro et Ishi

Recognition and exhibition

Selection

Third generation of a Kiyomizu (Kyoto) ceramic lineage, Azami Ballart Kobayashi has practised ceramics since childhood. After thirteen years of professional work, she begins her first sequence of public appearances in 2026. Ceramic Art London marks its opening.

May 2026

Ceramic Art London 2026 Olympia West, London · 7 to 10 May 2026

Leading European fair for contemporary studio ceramics, organised by the Craft Potters Association (United Kingdom, founded in 1958), publisher of Ceramic Review. Selection by jury submission.

First joint public presentation of the three series Ishi, Koboku and Toro. Official listing in the 2026 catalogue and on the fair's website.

Four days of exchanges at the fair with collectors, London-based gallerists and interior designers.

Official listing · ceramicartlondon.com

Terms of collaboration

Conditions and logistics

Representation: No exclusive representation at present. Open to any partnership proposal: gallery, fair, curated platform.
Collaboration modes: Solo show · group show · art fair · consignment · outright purchase · private commission via gallery · residency · curatorial co-edition · collaborative or briefed projects.
Financial terms: To be defined according to the nature and duration of the project.
Logistics: Custom wooden crate packaging, transit insurance included. Quote within 48 h. During the exhibition period, nail-to-nail insurance to be covered by the gallery.
Period: Three to twelve weeks, adjustable by written agreement.
Reference pieces: Four pieces in the collection are kept as reference and may be loaned for exhibition, scenography or curatorial project.
Commission: Dimensional variations within the continuity of existing series. Production time: three to six months per piece.
Studio visits: By appointment, in Les Lilas (93).
Image rights: High-resolution images provided for exhibition communication. Photo credits: Azami Ballart Kobayashi · Marie-Amélie Journel.

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