closed form etudes (2023)

single-channel video
15 minutes
directed by Leilehua Lanzilotti
music by Leilehua Lanzilotti
cinematography by Gahlord Dewald

Commissioned by The Noguchi Museum

Takaezu maintained a practice of inserting small bits of clay into her closed ceramic forms so they would rattle when handled. They contain hidden soundscapes revealed only through touch. Takaezu described the practice of adding rattles to her closed forms as “sending messages.”

In these video studies, sound artist and exhibition co-curator Leilehua Lanzilotti activates selected closed forms which were all part of the original exhibition, Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within.

Takaezu’s works in order of appearance:

Closed Form, late 1970s-early 1980s
Porcelain
5 5/8 x 4 1/4 in. (14.3 x 10.8 cm)
The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, C-V-26a

Closed Form, c. 1970s
Porcelain
2 x 4 1/8 in. (5.1 x 10.5 cm)
The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, Study Collection, C-S-83

Closed Form, c. 1960
Porcelain
8 × 6 in. (20.3 × 15.2 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form, 1960s
Stoneware
8 1/2 x 10 in. (21.6 x 25.4 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form (“Ocean Edge”), 1994
Porcelain
7 × 5 in. (17.8 × 12.7 cm)
Private Collection

Garden Seat, mid-to late 1960s
Salt-fired stoneware
17 × 11 in. (43.2 × 27.9 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form, 1988
Stoneware
30 × 11 × 9 in. (76.2 × 27.9 × 22.9 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form (Ocean Edge series), 1992
Porcelain
7 1/2 x 5 in. (19.1 x 12.7 cm)
Private Collection

Featured Exhibitions and Screenings

February 13–July 26, 2026 — Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI

September 8–December 23, 2025 — Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

March 2–May 18, 2025 — Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

September 11, 2024–January 12, 2025 — Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI

November 15 – December 21, 2024 — Lenore Tawney & Toshiko Takaezu: A Remarkable Friendship, Alison Jacques Art Gallery, London, UK

March 20 to July 28, 2024 — Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, The Noguchi Museum, New York, NY