Known for her “closed form” ceramics, crafted with a simplicity of form and surface treatment, Toshiko Takaezu grew up in Hawaii and relocated to Clinton, New Jersey, in 1964, where she taught part time at Princeton University from 1966 until 1992. Takaezu made her earliest closed forms in the late fifties, leaving a small air hole at the top of the vessel to prevent it from exploding in the kiln.