Based in Seto City, the epicenter of Japanese ceramic making since 10th century, Ruiji Aiba (b. 1964 in Fukuoka) creates ceramic sculptures and “netsuke.” They are often figures of children, innocently unclothed and at play with frogs, goldfishes, octopuses. Inspired by traditional dolls, fairy tales, classic movies and manga, Aiba emphasizes the ominosity aspect of dolls. The artists describes they are “neither human nor objects. Dolls are transcendental existence.”