Joni Moriyama has worked for more than 25 years as a ceramic artist making vessel and sculptural forms. She received her undergraduate training at the Ontario College of Art (now OCADU) and her MFA at Alfred University in New York State. Moriyama has taught ceramics and 3D design at OCAD University since 1999. She also teaches ceramics in her home studio, Studio Dalmori, in Toronto.
Artist Statement
Ceramics is central to my practice as an artist. Over the years, my work has shifted back and forth between hand-built pottery and sculpture. I am drawn to simple, ubiquitous shapes in nature, familiar to the hand, that can be retooled into an agreement of forms. What is unique in a shape can be resized, repositioned and repurposed and can reside in communities that define our experience.
