Emi Joyce

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places." Ernest Hemingway

While most Western styles of repair aim to mimic the object's original, unbroken state, kintsugi—the Japanese art of repairing chipped, cracked, and broken objects using urushi lacquer and emphasizing the repair with gold —highlights the breakages and celebrates their unique story.

After a career in textiles and fine jewelry making, Tokyo-based artist Emi Joyce relocated to Portland, Oregon, where she could better connect with nature. Forever influenced by 衣食住, meaning 'clothing, food, and living' (a Japanese idiom about daily necessities), Emi's passions for everyday objects and her lifelong endeavor to hone her fine motor skills led her to the art of Kintsugi.

Now Portland's premier Kintsugi artist, Emi splits her time between motherhood, commissioned works, and hosting Kintsugi workshops that incorporate both traditional and modern methods of repair.