Like her contemporaries who worked on flat canvases, Toshkio Takaezu brushed, splashed, dripped, and poured her colors onto the surface of her ceramics. Her abstracted sculptural forms simultaneously convey a sense of movement and spontaneity, as well as tranquility and contemplation. According to the artist: "After many years a natural pure form arrived, one which I enjoy and also one on which I could paint. I didn't want a flat surface to work on, but a three-dimensional one."

Born in Hawaii to Japanese parents, Takaezu drew upon both Western and Eastern artistic philosophies to develop her signature "closed forms," in which shape and glaze combined seamlessly to convey mood and presence. Takaezu credited her teacher and mentor, the Finnish ceramist Maija Grotell, for encouraging her individuality and experimentation. See examples of Maija Grotell’s work also in the MFA collections database.

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