En Iwamura

En Iwamura was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1988. Both his father and mother are painters. Their studios, and the museums and galleries they took him to, had a profound influence on his decision to pursue a career in art.

In high school, Iwamura was very serious about track and field, as well as painting. His application to study painting at university was rejected, so he enrolled as a craft major. He earned his BFA in ceramics from the Kanazawa College of Art in 2011 and went on to obtain his MFA in 2013, studying with the famous Japanese potter, Hiromi Itabashi. After graduating from Kanazawa College, Iwamura traveled to the United States, and attended Clemson University in South Carolina, where he became a teaching assistant and obtained an MFA in Visual Arts.

Iwamura’s work is influenced by traditional Japanese clay haniwa figures, ancient Japanese Jomon earthenware and more modern arts forms like manga and graffiti.

His work  focuses on the Japanese idea of Ma, meaning the negative space between objects, people or places. The lines he places on the surfaces of his sculptures are derived from his study of Jomon pots. He uses his minimal forms, combined with the traditional lines to create works that combine the modern and traditional art forms.

From 2016 through 2019, Iwamura served as Arts in Residence in the US, China and France, and finally, at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan , where he currently lives and works.

He has had solo exhibits throughout the US, Japan and Europe. He said that he dreamed of having a solo show in New York, which he had in 2022 at the Ross + Kramer Gallery.