In The Dreamweaver and The Moonraker, artists Susanne Wellm and Akiko Hirai explore themes of memory, material, and expression through contrasting artistic approaches. They bring together contemporary textile art, conceptual photography, and expressive ceramics to create emotionally charged, visually striking works each shaped by distinct techniques and materials.

Susanne Wellm fuses photography and textile art to construct nostalgic, narrative-rich compositions that merge fiction and reality. Her works invite viewers to interpret layered stories rooted in memory and identity. Trained originally in textile Wellm later transitioned to photography merging both disciplines into a single artistic process. She digitally edits her photographs, prints them, then slices them into thin strips. By weaving these strips together—leaving visible knots and loose threads—she creates richly textured, poetic works that evoke themes of memory, identity, and time.

Akiko Hirai reinterprets the traditional Korean Moon Jar with dynamic energy and sculptural expression. After encountering an 18th-century Moon Jar, once owned by Bernard Leach and Lucie Rie, Hirai began reshaping this historic form with her own expressive vision. Her Moon Jars defy minimalism, instead pulsing with raw texture, asymmetry, and a strong physical presence. Each vessel begins with a wheel-thrown base, followed by a hand-coiled upper section. The result is a powerful sculptural work that transcends function.

Together, Wellm and Hirai bridge tradition and contemporary practice, weaving a shared story of transformation through photography, textiles, and ceramics.