Born in Aichi, Japan in 1987, he completed her studies at Tajimi City Ceramic Design Institute in 2019, and now lives and works in Seto City, Aichi.He examines the essence of human existence through the intricate relationship between identity and memory. In response to the modern paradox where hyper-connectivity can lead to a loss of self, Sakai’s work encourages viewers to reflect on how their experiences shape their worldview. Through a meditative process of wheel-throwing, his series like ReCollection, SPIRIT, and Archē give abstract form to different layers of memory—from the individual and collective to the primordial. Ultimately, Sakai’s ceramics serve as a medium for dialogue, fostering a deeper understanding of human complexity and affirming a viewer’s own sense of self in a rapidly changing world.
— Fossils of Memory, Tremors of Being —
As we live, we are gradually enshrouded by countless layers of “memory”—culture, beliefs, values.
Before we realize it, our very existence is shaped by these accumulated strata.
Through my work, I seek to peel back those layers and reveal what lies beneath: a primal, universal memory that transcends the individual— a memory that sleeps deep within the human collective.
The clay I use is itself a sediment of memory—
a trace of innumerable lives that once existed upon this earth.
By placing my hands upon this soil, I enter into a dialogue with the unconscious,
gently unearthing faint fragments and fixing them into the present through fire.
This process is an excavation of memory’s fossils, an act of gazing anew at what it means to live as a human being.
Archē, a Greek word meaning “origin” or “beginning, “is not, in my view, a point in the distant past.
Rather, it is the trembling of existence that emerges only after we have shed all that has been inscribed upon us.
We live without ever having chosen even the outlines of who we are. Precisely because of that, there is meaning in contemplating life itself—before culture, before value, before name.
This work is both a fossil of memory and a tremor of being. It is a vessel meant to stir the sleeping memories within each viewer, and to offer a moment to ask: Who am I, really?