Junko Mori
"I became obsessed by the infinite possibilities of metal."
By Charlotte Abrahams / 11th November 2026
Junko Mori, ‘Propagation Project; Kokedama Cacti’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
WHEN JUNKO MORI chose metal for her material specialism as an undergraduate at Tokyo’s Musashino Art University, she had no idea it was the start of a lifelong relationship that would see her celebrated as one of the most innovative contemporary metal artists. “I love surprises,” she explains, “and since metal is not a familiar material at school, it was the only surprise on offer when I got to university. I became obsessed by its infinite possibilities.”
Junko Mori, ‘Uncontrollable Beauty: Cloud Glove’, 2023
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
Three decades on, and now living and working on North Wales’ remote Llŷn Peninsula, Mori is acclaimed for her ability to exploit those possibilities to push the boundaries of her material. Rather than starting with a predetermined design, she allows her complex sculptures, composed of hundreds of hand-forged components, to develop organically, as she is led by instinct, guided by the endless variations inherent in each act of hand welding and forging. The resulting objects capture not only the intricate structures of the natural world, but also its rhythms and vital beauty.
Junko Mori, ‘Uncontrollable Beauty: Cloud Glove’, 2023 (detail)
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
The foundations for her inspiration and signature free-style process were laid early. As a small child, Mori was fascinated by the patterns she saw in nature and as a student in Tokyo, whilst exploring ways of working, she spent hours peering through pond water samples under the microscope. “We had an open brief and I decided to explore what would happen if I didn’t think first about what I was going to create,” she explains. “I chopped up lots of steel pipe and then welded the bits together free-style. It became this weird, Jenga-type thing and I loved it. The way I build a shape hasn’t changed since.”
Junko Mori, ‘Propagation Project: Twisted Leaf Dew’, 2025
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
Repetition is another defining theme in Mori’s work – both the physical act demanded by the process of hand forging and welding, as well as its conceptual function as a method embodying time and accumulated knowledge. After graduation, she spent a year as a commercial welder, often working on the same thing for days on end. “I started to enjoy the repetition,” she says. “You have to switch everything off and learn to just flow with it.”
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Junko Mori, ‘Propagation Project; Four Petal Wave’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
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Junko Mori, ‘Propagation Project; Four Petal Wave’, 2026 (detail)
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
Mori’s career took off quickly. In 1998, she moved to Britain to study Silversmithing and Metalworking at Camberwell College of Arts, and by 2002 she was being represented by leading London gallerist Adrian Sassoon. Two years later, she’d been shortlisted for the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize. Much of this success stems from her commitment to her evolutionary, hand forged process. Recently, however, she has begun to question her approach. “In 2001, I wrote a statement about my practice,” she explains. “It centred on the importance of hand forging, repetition and the uncontrollable elements of the making process. I worked within that idea for over two decades then, three years ago, I realised it had become a trap of my own making.”
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Junko Mori, ‘Silver Organism; Peony Dew’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
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Junko Mori, ‘Silver Organism, Two Spin Rose Dew’, 2025
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
She didn’t entirely reject her familiar methods – this year she has added several exquisite hand forged and freely formed pieces to an on-going series, including ‘Propagation Project’ and ‘Silver Organism’ – but she did feel she was “stuck in a tunnel seeking a new direction.”
Junko Mori, ‘Silver Organism, Rusty Ball Point’, 2025
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
The first turning point came through an experiment with animator Isla McKinnon to test whether a computer could simulate the variations that, for Mori, are the most important quality of handmade work. It turned out that it could. “The results were remarkably close to what I would have made by hand,” says Mori. “That meant I could no longer justify what I do by aesthetics alone, which forced me to ask myself what the hand and the physical act of forging actually contribute?”
Junko Mori at work
COURTESY: The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Stephen Heaton
That question led her to spend a week learning to forge with a power hammer under the guidance of artist blacksmith, Sam Pearce. The large leaves and young fern she made became ‘Propagation Project: Botany’, a piece which will be unveiled at Adrian Sassoon’s Design Miami exhibit in December. “For me, this piece is the highlight of the show,” Mori says. “It carries the whole journey: the questioning of my own certainties, the dialogue with digital process and my return to the forge with new eyes.”
Junko Mori, ‘Propagation Project; Botany’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
Junko Mori, ‘Propagation Project; Botany’, 2026 (detail)
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon / PHOTOGRAPH: Sylvain Deleu
The second was being invited to take part in the gallery’s latest London exhibition, ‘Beauty in Repetition’, alongside ceramic artists Kate Malone and Hitomi Hosono. “Group shows are an opportunity to try something new because they can’t be all about me,” says Mori. “As well as showing existing pieces, the three of us agreed to make ping-pong-sized works to be displayed as a collection, like seeds and pods in nature.
Junko Mori, ‘A Collection of Seeds’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon
These reminded me of a collection of Lucie Rie buttons I’d seen at auction. I loved her use of glaze colour and the bold gold and metallic finishes and, as ceramic glazing relies heavily on metal oxides, I wondered whether working in copper would allow me to explore similar colours.”
Junko Mori, ‘A Collection of Seeds’, 2026 (detail)
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon
Using her kitchen oven and deep knowledge of metal, Mori experimented, setting the temperature to 240°C, placing 36 copper discs inside, then removing one every minute until, after 22 minutes, the rainbow of hues stopped developing. She then raised the temperature to 300°C. The remaining discs darkened still further. Delighted, she applied the technique, along with variations such as patination and gold and aluminium leaf, to the works that make up the ‘Seed Collection.’ “These are the first truly colourful works of my metalworking career,” she says with evident pleasure. But, like the power hammered leaves and fern, they will not be the last.
Junko Mori, ‘A Collection of Seeds’, 2026 (detail)
COURTESY: © The Artist & Adrian Sassoon
Having been “stuck in a tunnel seeking a new direction” Mori has emerged and discovered that machines, copper and pre-determined making have infinite possibilities too.
All works mentioned are in the range £1,500 – £60,000.
‘Beauty in Repetition’
Adrian Sassoon, 8 Headfort Place, London SW1
19th November–18th December 2026
Adrian Sassoon at Design Miami
Convention Center Drive & 19th Street, Miami Beach
1st December – 6th December 2026
Charlotte Abrahams is a writer, editor and curator specialising in design and the applied arts.
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