THE COLLECTION

Collected quietly over more than a decade of exhibitions with the gallery, this group of dessert-sized plates is exceptionally rare—even within the context of the gallery’s history. The artist exhibited only annually, and each presentation introduced a wide range of ceramic forms. As such, assembling a cohesive set of a single plate type was never intentional, nor repeatable.

This collection represents the gradual accumulation of the dessert ovals alone—an outcome that could only emerge through time, patience, and circumstance. Today, it would be nearly impossible to commission or recreate: the artist’s practice has since expanded into an ever-broadening array of shapes, making the focused production of this format no longer feasible.

Notably, this set was also the curator’s first and immediate selection, recognized early on for its clarity and quiet distinction within the artist’s broader body of work.

It was the oval dessert plate that first distinguished itself to the curator. Its balanced, modest proportion and gentle curvature offer a uniquely harmonious surface for one-of-a-kind illustration—whether through repeated motifs, poetic narrative scenes, or more adventurous, playful botanical studies, often singular in nature.

The plates’ mobility adds another layer of rarity to the collection. They may live as a dynamic wall composition—interlacing and re-forming in endless arrangements—or return to the table for special occasions, accommodating settings of up to 20 for a celebratory gathering. Expanding the collection with two stunning centerpiece platters as focal points, elevating the tablescape to 22 pieces.

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Tiger Cub Plays With A Lily
    2018

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    A cheerful, spotted-tail baby tiger plays with a lily, its front paws propped against the contours of the plate as it leans into the composition. Set against a delicate white ground, the scene feels light, tender, and quietly animated—true to Makoto Kagoshima’s poetic sensibility.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Fox On A Walk In An Orange Groove
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    This vertically oriented plate features a tall, towering orange tree that draws the eye upward. At its base stands a cheerful creature, surrounded by blooming flowers and finely detailed grassy, earthen ground—an expressive, narrative scene characteristic of Makoto Kagoshima’s work.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Whimsical White Flowers on Yellow
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Kagoshima presents here a distinctive composition in this plate, where white florals are set against a yellow ground, lending the work a light, charming whimsy. The forms are defined by finely etched stems alone, allowing the blooms to read as both graphic and painterly, and giving the composition a sense of lively movement.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    The Black Butterfly Amongst The Roses
    2020

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Makoto Kagoshima rarely depicts roses, making this plate a particularly distinctive work. Five roses are arranged along the border, each rendered with pointed leaves and thorns in fine etching. Executed in a restrained, monochromatic colorway, the composition feels both graphic and painterly. A single butterfly introduces a subtle sense of movement, evoking a quiet garden scene and underscoring the work’s refined, collectible character.

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Blush Pink Graphic Flowers on Black
    2020

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    This pastel-pink floral is rendered with a watercolor-like softness—an uncommon expression in Makoto Kagoshima’s work. Delicate yet experimental, it carries the feeling of an artist pushing into new territory, exploring unfamiliar techniques and evolving his visual language.

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Protea Herringbone Etched
    2015

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    The Herringbone series represents one of Makoto Kagoshima’s most labor-intensive and intricate ceramic expressions, and is therefore exceptionally rare. Each piece is created through a process of carving away the clay’s surface with specialized tools, revealing its distinctive texture. This work features four thick stems and bold florals, balanced by finely etched detailing throughout.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

    Archival | Plate featured in the Makoto Kagoshima Ceramics book

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Marigolds, Peonies & Blueberries On A Vine
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    This piece belongs to Makoto Kagoshima’s iconic series of finely etched florals. The flowers are strung along slender, curving stems that trace an elegant S-shaped rhythm across the surface, while distinctive blueberry details punctuate the composition—creating a sense of movement and continuity, balanced with his signature precision and play.

    Unsigned

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Nouveau Makoto
    2015

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    This plate balances bold, scalloped-edge florals with exceptionally fine, etched stems—creating a striking interplay of weight and delicacy. Rendered in graphic two-tone, the florals and leaves feel both assertive and refined.

    Notably, details from this piece are featured in our publication Makoto Kagoshima Ceramics, selected for its minimal, considered symmetry.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Marigolds & Ferns
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Set against an iconic dark ground, this plate features Makoto Kagoshima’s signature flowers arranged in a symmetrical six-flower composition, rendered with finely etched detail and intricate leafwork—including a singular jagged-leaf variation.

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist 

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    The Pink Rose and Narcissuses
    2017

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Classic Makoto Kagoshima florals unfold across a soft white ground, featuring two delicately rendered narcissuses within a quietly balanced composition.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist 

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Alligator Dance
    2020

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    This animated alligator traces the curve of the plate, its back echoing the form with a fluid, rhythmic line. Four flowers punctuate the composition, one capturing the creature’s quiet gaze—an offbeat, narrative moment characteristic of Makoto Kagoshima’s work.

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Two Bird Duet In The Tree Of Life
    2020

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    A vertically oriented Tree of Life, adorned with Makoto Kagoshima’s iconic etched florals, including a delicate narcissus. Perched at the top, two birds face one another, mid-song—an intimate, joyful exchange that brings the composition to life.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    In Full Bloom On White
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Classic Makoto Kagoshima florals unfold across a soft white ground, featuring finely etched blossoms and a single pansy, punctuated by one flower in a vivid blue. Slightly thicker stems lend the composition a subtle weight, while maintaining a quiet, considered balance.

    Unsigned 

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Fox & The Rose
    2018

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    A white fox is illustrated along the base of the plate, its tail tracing the contour in a fluid, continuous line. Its paws, ears, and nose blush softly in pink, echoing the nearby flower that captures its backward glance—an intimate, quietly playful moment characteristic of Makoto Kagoshima’s work.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Bear Lost In A Forest
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    At the center, a standing bear anchors the composition, flanked by a branching flowering tree and a bonsai to the left. Subtle, dotted color accents animate the background, adding a quiet sense of depth and play—hallmarks of Makoto Kagoshima’s narrative approach.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Absolute Grey Peonies On Black
    2016

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    This pale blue-grey floral with a yellow center is rendered in a uncommon colorway. The leaves are intentionally left white, creating a sense of openness and contrast that allows the form and fine detailing of the motif to stand out with quiet clarity.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Narcissuses & King Protea
    2017

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Classic Makoto Kagoshima florals unfold across a soft white ground, featuring two delicately rendered narcissuses alongside finely etched blossoms and a single pansy—composed with a quiet, considered balance.

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Peonies & Blueberries Crown
    2014

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Kagoshima frames this plate with a border of florals with exotic blue berries, enclosing a central composition of flowers painted with notable softness and fluidity. The painterly handling of the floral forms is set against stronger, more assertive etching, creating a refined juxtaposition.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

    Archival | Plate featured in the Makoto Kagoshima Ceramics book

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Dancing With Wolf
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    An expressive creature, defined by its clenched-teeth detail, is set in striking contrast against soft mimosa-like spring blossoms on a white ground—an interplay of tension and delicacy characteristic of Makoto Kagoshima’s work.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Hungry Like The Creature
    2019

    210 × 195 mm | 8 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    A graphic creature takes center stage, its body echoing the contours of the plate in a bold, rhythmic line. Stems are left in white, accenting the form with measured touches of color—an intentional contrast that heightens the composition’s clarity, characteristic of Makoto Kagoshima’s work.

    Signed On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Fox and Hound
    2020

    356 × 280 mm | 14 1/4 x 11 inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist

  • Makoto Kagoshima (b.1967)
    Les Inséparables, Des Oiseaux Amoureux (Lovebirds)
    2020

    355 × 260 mm | 14 × 10 1/4 inches
    Medium: Stoneware, Glaze
    Edition: Unique
    Provenance: Artist, Chariots on Fire

    Signed & Illustrated On Verso By The Artist

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Makoto Kagoshima, based in the southern island of Japan, approaches the composition of his ceramic work in individual and hand-crafted nature.  His practice is to draw images on clay:  simple, yet evocative renderings — roses in exuberant bloom; birds mid-flight, or in open song — which depict the natural, and at times, the unnatural, world.  Each illustrated motif remains entirely one-of-a-kind, the culmination of a series of distinct, refined techniques and Kagoshima’s vivid expressivity.

The story of the artist’s relationship with Chariots on Fire begins from a place of discovery: Chariots director Ritsuko Yagi found herself captivated by a particular ceramic plate, one which bore a flower in earth-toned browns, itself modest, yet etched into the clay with an essential, expressive playfulness.

The piece brought a sense of immediate, undeniable excitement — so much so that a trip to the artist’s atelier in Fukuoka soon followed.  There, Yagi was introduced to Makoto Kagoshima’s work by the artist himself:  before her unfolded the full scope of his compositional sensibility, ranging in subject matter from not only florals, but animals — fantastical, animated ones, rendered through a vibrant interplay of colors. A certain kinship between the pair proved all but instantaneous, and Yagi was swift in putting-forth her invitation:  might Kagoshima present his work for the first time in the U.S. at Chariots on Fire?

What began as Kagoshima’s debut at Chariots on Fire has blossomed into a near 15-year journey—woven through exhibitions and collaborative projects that speak to a shared spirit of creativity. At intervals inspired by intention and invitation, the artist devotes himself to creating a body of work, as commissioned or curated by Ritsuko Yagi, the provenance of which can be traced through the perpetually-evolving features of Kagoshima’s subject matter.  Says the artist:  “What I create for Chariots on Fire embodies what I have experienced of the climate of Los Angeles.”  It was during the 2014 “Ode to Summer” exhibition — which featured motifs responding to the Venice Beach location of Chariots — that Kagoshima accompanied Yagi on a spontaneous trip to Joshua Tree; there-after, a strange, never-before-seen breed of botanical leaves began to materialize within his work, re-assembled from the artist’s impressions of the desert landscape.

And as they continue to explore both familiar and unfamiliar “facets-of-living” whether in Japan, Paris, London, Finland, or beyond — the friendship between Kagoshima and Chariots on Fire likewise expands from its foundation of good-humored, ever-flourishing conversation and creative exchange.

—Venice, California, March 2021

Makoto Kagoshima

“What I create for Chariots on Fire embodies what I have experienced of the climate of Los Angeles.”

— Makoto Kagoshima

FOR THE TABLE

Intimate or expansive—your table, your scale.

From intimate dinners to grand celebrations, a 22-piece setting that scales with the moment.
FORMATIONS