Hiro Swen (Japan, Australia) ceramics

Hiroe Swen was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1934. In the late 1950s she studied at the Kyoto Crafts Institute and for five years under the Master Potter Zenko Yasuda. She met her future husband Cornel in the mid-sixties and together they migrated to Australia in 1968. Hiroe Swen first exhibited in Australia in that year in Melbourne and since then has exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally. In 2016, Hiroe-san was awarded The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays by the Government of Japan for her contribution to the promotion of Japanese culture and mutual understanding between Japan and Australia. Her work is represented in the collections of the Australian National Gallery and all State Art Galleries, Auckland Museum, Powerhouse Museum Sydney, as well as major collections across the world.