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Ceramic sculpture of a person with long black hair lying curled on their side, wearing a long garment with pink and blue stripes.

Sleeping Woman in Pink and Blue Dress

Akio Takamori

“The need to sleep is the great equalizer of the human condition,” artist Akio Takamori observed. “It overcomes the rich and the poor, the young and the old. It is universal. When sleep overtakes people, they gently disengage from the conscious world and slip away, albeit briefly, from unending social conditions. . . . Sleep, shaped by dreams, becomes an intensely personal experience.” In 2003, Takamori began exhibiting ceramic sculptures of sleeping figures; Sleeping Woman in Pink and Blue Dress is a later member of this series. The passiveness of sleep fascinated him. He saw in this state not weakness, but tenderness and humanity. His sleepers turn inward, denying our assumption that artistic subjects should meet our gaze. Displayed alongside Takamori’s work are figurative ceramics by other contemporary sculptors, many of whom were similarly influenced by the explorations of psychology. They were especially drawn to the complex relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind as part of a broader questioning of objective reality. Ceramic, long associated with utilitarian vessels, here becomes a metaphor: the human body as a container for our innermost thoughts.
Artist/Maker
Akio Takamori
(American, b. Japan, 1950-2017)
Title
Sleeping Woman in Pink and Blue Dress
Date
2013
Material & Process
Stoneware and underglaze
Dimensions
11 x 37 x 32 in. overall
Credit
Gift of Stephen and Pamela Hootkin
Inventory No.
2015.22.10
Classification
Sculpture
Location
United States

Related

2 April 2013, sold by Barry Friedman Ltd. (New York, NY) to Stephen and Pamela Hootkin (New York, NY); July 2014, deposited on long-term loan to Chazen Museum of Art; 2015, gifted to Chazen Museum of Art

  • Chazen Museum of Art. "The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection." exh. cat. Madison: Chazen Museum of Art, 2014. pp. 30, 118-119, 158

  • Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection, The: Chazen Museum of Art, 9/5/2014–11/30/2014

This ceramic sculpture depicts a person with long black hair and light skin tone lying on their side in a curled position, wearing a vertically striped garment in pink and blue. The body forms a rounded, contained shape, with the limbs drawn inward. The person rests on their left side with knees pulled toward the torso. The right leg lies over the left, and the feet are close together. The right arm bends at the elbow, with the hand resting flat on the center of the chest with fingers splayed. The left arm crosses the belly, and the hand is tucked between the thighs. Reddish-brown painted lines outline the body, defining fingers, toes and folds of the limbs. The garment’s thick, vertical stripes run lengthwise from the shoulders to ankles, and down each sleeve to the wrists. These stripes follow the curves of the body, widening at the hips and thighs and narrowing at the bent limbs, emphasizing the form’s volume. The head rests on the ground and tilts slightly outward. The face is painted directly onto the smooth surface rather than sculpted in relief. Simple lines and dappled pink and brown shading define the features. The eyes are half closed with the whites and irises barely visible, suggesting rest. The lips are painted a soft red, and the cheeks are washed with dabs of pink. The shoulder-length hair is rendered in thick, matte black brushstrokes with lighter, less opaque streaks near the temple. The surface is matte with slight irregularities in the clay. Painted details show loose, visible brushstrokes, and the colors vary in opacity, giving the figure an illustrative appearance.

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