Ryan Takaba is a material artist whose sculptures, tableaux, and installations are centered around a study of scientific reason and the power of belief. His work incorporates thematic mediums of flowers, ash, wax, water, and porcelain. He exhibits his work throughout the United States and has participated in residencies at the European Ceramic Work Center -Netherlands, The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen -China, and was awarded a residency through Blue Star Contemporary to live and work at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin -Germany. He is formally trained in the ceramic discipline earning an MFA in Ceramics from Kent State University and a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Hawaii. Ryan currently lives and works in San Antonio, Texas where he is Ceramic Department Chair at the Southwest School of Art and collaborates on a side project with Jennifer Ling Datchuk to produce a line of functional handmade ceramics under the company Dim and Sum.