BIOGRAPHY

Shoko Teruyama grew up in Mishima, Japan. She earned a BA in education and taught elementary school before coming to the United States to study art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1997. Shoko received her MFA in ceramics in 2005 from Wichita State University. She finished a three-year residency at the Penland School of Crafts in 2008 and is now a studio artist in Alfred, NY.

Shoko's handbuilt work is made of red earthenware with white slip and sgraffito decoration. She has developed a variety of patterns and a cast of characters based on experience with human relations. As the characters interact, Shoko wants the viewer to find their own stories. The work is seemingly whimsical, but reveals itself to be something more devious and interesting.