Botanical Fantasies

London-based Japanese ceramic artist Kaori Tatebayashi creates lifelike, three-dimensional sculptures of plants and flowers, bringing the magic of botanical gardens to indoor walls. For decades, Tatebayashi, represented by London-based gallery Tristan Hoare, has explored new possibilities with clay, a medium she was intimately drawn to for its fragile yet paradoxically permanent nature.

In her work, Tatebayashi aims “to capture time and preserve [nature]” in clay. The turning of the seasons holds a crucial place in her artistic process. She keenly observes the life cycle of plants, carefully selecting the precise moment she wants to capture in her work. “Nature fascinates me, and studying plants uplifts my spirit,” she says. “This challenges me like nothing else, making it a perpetually exciting endeavour.”

After carefully choosing the plants, Tatebayashi brings them to her studio. There, she observes them closely and begins to immortalize them in clay, making sure that she accounts for every minuscule detail. For over 30 years, Tatebayashi has primarily moulded her pieces by hand, aided only by a rather rudimentary tool she crafted decades ago.

“I prefer to work directly on the kiln shelf so the delicate pieces can go into the kiln without being moved,” she says. After that, she fires the pieces to searing stoneware temperatures and leaves them to cool naturally.