The Loewe Foundation unveils 2023 craft prize winner

The annual prize, launched in 2016 by the Loewe Foundation to celebrate excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship, aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and to recognise working artists who are setting a new standard for the future.

Inazaki, an artist from Takamatsu, Japan, was chosen from 30 finalists by a distinguished jury, including Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, and Abraham Thomas, curator of modern architecture, design and decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, among others. 

The 30 finalists were selected in January 2023 by a panel of experts from over 2,700 submissions by artisans representing work across a range of mediums including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, leather, glass, metal, jewellery and lacquer. 

This year’s edition of the craft prize presents a selection of works that explore meditative, time-intensive techniques and showcase a skilful manipulation of materials. In particular, Inazaki was recognized for her work Metanoia, 2019 — an intricate ceramic sculpture created through an accumulation of miniscule forms that coalesce across the work’s crystallised surface.

The jury also awarded special mentions to Dominique Zinkpè for his work The Watchers, 2022, and Moe Watanabe for her work Transfer Surface, 2022.

The shortlisted works will be exhibited in Isamu Noguchi’s Studio at The Noguchi Museum in New York, until June 18, 2023. The exhibition will also be available to view online and will be documented through an exhibition catalogue containing each of the finalists’ pieces.