Solo Exhibition at Equora Space, Budapest Hungary, September 2026
VARÁZSLATOS MERENGÉSBEN
- IN THE REVERIE OF ENCHANTEMENT -
Artistic Concept
Naoko Tagai’s long-standing love of and fascination with porcelain has been a defining force in her sculptural practice. In 2025, she was awarded an Artist in Residency grant by the International Ceramics Festival Aberystwyth, enabling her to work at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemét, Hungary. The works presented in this exhibition were created during her residency there this spring.
During her residency, Naoko developed a series of porcelain sculptures alongside a series of drawings depicting imaginary plants and the worlds they inhabit. Working with distinctive Hungarian porcelain, she explored the possibilities of the material and its particular expressive qualities.
Her works evoke a dreamlike, poetic world in which butterflies and flowering trees exist together in a natural harmony. Yet these imagined plants are not simply expressions of nature’s beauty. They also embody its strength, energy and resilience. Sharp thorns, twisting tendrils and expansive, proliferating forms express an instinctive vitality – an elemental force that enables plants to adapt, survive and continually generate new life.
Her sculptures therefore explore the tension and interplay between the fragility of nature and its extraordinary capacity for life. Naoko is particularly interested in the vitality present in every plant: a quality that, for her, carries a deeper significance for the human experience. She believes there is much we can learn, both as individuals and as a society, from the vitality, adaptability and innate resilience of the natural world.
Clay and porcelain are sensual, tactile materials that create a direct relationship between the artist and the form. They respond immediately to touch while also preserving the gestures and energy of a particular moment. For Naoko, their fragility, strength and resilience reflect qualities that can be found both in nature and in human existence.
Ultimately, her work is an invitation to reawaken the senses – and, through them, perhaps to come a little closer to ourselves.
Curated by Viktor Grimm
Photo credit : Kinga Holinka
