Kyoko Magari-Ball learned her craft while living in Kyoto, Japan, a place adorned with temples and shrines. Echoes of Japanese culture appear in her pieces. She has acquired a dedicated following of art aficionados and professional artists who love her delicate cups, bowls and vases, and her signature style of carving intricate patterns out of clay.
Creativity runs in the family—her brother is a designer in Japan and her father was an amateur painter. While studying design in Japan, she took courses in textiles and interior decorating.
Magari-Ball uses both hand-built and wheel-thrown methods to transform clay; she combines porcelain clay with more common pottery clay to achieve fine textures.
Paul Kuharic, a fellow artist who teaches ceramics at St. Joseph High School in South Bend, describes her ceramics as “airy” and compares them to lace. “She throws thin, a trademark of a professional.”
According to Magari-Ball, throwing clay smaller and lighter is characteristic of the Japanese tradition. Magari-Ball’s ceramics are light, but also durable and designed for modern convenience. All of her pieces are microwave- and dishwasher-safe.
She focuses on natural colors in her work: black, brown, grey, indigo and wood tones. “I love dark colors,” she says of these distinctive hues of traditional Japanese ceramics.
She’s always looking for new inspiration. Some of her work features stylized Kanji characters, and a trip to New Mexico provided ideas for new motifs.
“I’m curious about trying out some decorative and creative designs like Japanese ancient Jomon pottery, but my style evolves on its own, without any predetermined ideas,” she says.
Magari-Ball is an accomplished baker, and she feels a connection between ceramics and baking. As she creates each piece, she thinks about how it will be used.
“When I make plates or bowls, I imagine what to serve on them,” she says. “For example, will a certain type of food suit this plate?”
Magari-Ball’s ceramics can be found in the South Bend Museum of Art gift shop, Circa Arts Gallery in South Bend and Arts on Main in Elkhart.
Kyoko Magari-Ball
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