Discover this astonishing and unusual ceramic technique and the people who use it.
Nerikomi is a specific colored clay technique originated in Japan. More specifically, “Neri” is a root word meaning "to mix" and “Komi” means "to press into," as in pressing clay slabs into a mold. Nerikomi thus means hand-building with colored clay, which in Japan usually meant mold work. It has been expanded to include other methods of hand-building.
This is a technique that carries a contemporary Japanese term but Marbling ceramic techniques were first found used in Egypt and China and through the Romans to the West.
There was recently an explosion in popularity of the technique, from about 1978 to1995, in Japan, which has brought the term to us
How does the process work?
Nerikomi starts with coloring the clay and that is the difference with every other ceramist technique. Unlike surface painting, Nerikomi builds design within the body of the clay itself, so the motif is not fragile decoration but structure. With different colored clay ceramists are able to create various visual patterns that are authentic, and mesmerizing from every angle.
Once the palette is ready, colored clays are sheeted or extruded into layers. A good compression matters so that the stack behaves as a single block. While doing so artisans create their intended pattern by placing or mixing the clay in specific points. Then with wire or taut blade, the maker slices fresh cross-sections from the patterned block. Each slice is a snapshot: a moment in the cane’s geometry and those slices become tiles for assembly. Artists then carefully score and join slices, sometimes adding solid clay for rims or bases.
Edges are refined when leather-hard after drying to avoid smearing colors. Some artists apply a clear glaze to intensify saturation; others prefer satin or matte finishes for a paper-ceramic feel. Firing respects the clay body’s range, with steady ramps to safeguard laminated seams.
Meet the artists
Many artists use this technique and experiment with colors, textures and patterns. Let’s discover some of them
Nabila Nareswari - nareswari_
Nabila works in her own studio Nareswari in South Jakarta, Indonesia. She has always been interested in craft, arts and design so she decided to study product design at university. There she rediscover pottery, a childhood passion. She picked nerikomi as her final thesis project and she continued studying it while becoming a potter and ceramic artist. Naresawri is her surname but it also became her brand; her safe place where she can find her own style and experiment so that her products can be used in various spaces. Regarding her technique, Nabila prepares different colored clay sticks that she than assembles in a huge block. From this block she cuts a thin slice that is going to be the structure of her creation.
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Ana Ocio - aaocio
Ana was born and raised in Spain but she is currently living in Kelowna, British Columbia. She creates ceramic pieces that want to share what she admires during her adventures in nature. To achieve that she uses different techniques, from the traditional glaze painting to nerikomi, she creates both functional and decorative art. Her brand Ocio is both her surname and an important spanish word that perfectly describes her work. Ocio in Spanish mean leisure and is freedom, freedom to choose how to use one’s time not based on external factors, but internal motivation, resulting in feelings of satisfaction, enjoyment and gratitude. These are the feelings that she tries to convey through her pieces. Talking about her nerikomi technique, she stacks different colored clay slabs then presses them together to create her base-block. After that she cuts little layers from that block and she plays with the movement of these colors to achieve her final piece.
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Dean McRaine - lightwavepottery
Dean is a self-taught ceramist who spent 35 years perfecting his own techniques. Located in central Kapaa on the island of Kauai, Hawaii; LightWave studio workers find inspiration by the beautiful tropical environment around them. He has spent many years experimenting with different techniques and material, for this reason many of his techniques, glazes and firing processes are original and unique. For the last 15 years he has mainly been interested in vivid colors and rich patterns that can be made with colored clay. Through them he aims to create work that is beautiful and uplifting and brings joy to those who see it.
To create these unique pieces Dean first creates the different small colorful individual drawings. Then he assembles them into a huge pattern block from which he cuts a slice than becomes part or the entire structure of a new creation.
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Amy L. - longyearpottery
Amy had to trade a fast-paced life for a slower routine after experiencing debilitating post-viral illnesses and she found her niche in pottery. She researched new techniques like nerikomi, found inspiration and explored different mediums in her own possibilities. She preferred test tiles, colours and stratacut to create mesmerizing patterns than the classical wheel-trowing techniques. Even though with these techniques you need a little mathematical precision for the patterns, there is always an unpredictable and organic nature linked to the material; meaning that no piece can be perfectly replicated. Amy has embraced the natural distorsions of her work since pottery is for her an essential practice of self-care and resilience. Concerning her technique, Amy first creates her colorful tiles, she then assembles them into a mold and she purrs plaster to make the clay perfectly shaped. Another way she creates her pieces is by first creating the little designs that she then puts together and covers with a base-colored clay. Finally to let the design appear again she cuts little layers of clay from the surface giving each piece its own 3dimensional shape.
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