Goto Hideki is a contemporary ceramic artist based in Tajimi City. After graduating from Tajimi Technical High School, where he studied ceramics, he participated in public exhibitions, solo exhibitions, and group exhibitions. His works meditates upon the ocean and the interplay between the earth, water and clay. He values his encounter with various materials from the earth when mining for his own clay, and strives to represent the natural appearance of mineral deposits in soil on his surfaces.
Goto’s forms are inspired by water. He reflects on the formation of small organisms within the ocean: clam shells, coral, fish and their fins, barnacles. On the other hand, he also reflects on the grandness of oceanic forms conjured by natural forces. The large waves that crash onto cliff edges, sea foam, and riptides. He articulates this imagery in the forms he creates, which most recently manifest with curvilinear, layered textures. This series, “Watatsumi 海神”, is titled after a legendary deity of the sea. The sea god is conventionally represented in the form of a dragon: a motif associated with water in Japanese mythology. Through ceramics, Goto invokes his reverence for the sea god as a bridge between humankind and nature, mediating the relationship between the two.