Ai Yamamoto

Japanese Outsider artist Ai Yamamoto makes clay statues of her colleagues and the staff members at Yamanami. First, she lays a round flat base, which becomes a face, and then puts eyes, a nose, and a mouth on it. Then she makes numerous thin strings of clay, and carefully arranges them around the face to represent the hair. The mass of clay becomes so thick that it covers the face at the bottom.

Yamamoto practices at Atelier Yamanami in Shiga, Japan: a creative space for adult artists with disabilities. Her work has been exhibited at Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California, in the 2017 show titled "Labor of Love." 

Courtesy of Creative Growth