Born in Kyoto in 1941, Setsuko Nagasawa trained as a traditional ceramist at the University of Fine Arts in her hometown, under the direction of Tomimoto Kenkichi. She opened her first studio in 1967. In 1973 she is invited to Scripps College in Claremont, California, where the American ceramist Paul Soldner (1921-2011) taught, which allowed her to open the doors to contemporary creation.

In 1975 she entered the School of Fine Arts in Geneva and graduated in 1978 with a diploma as a sculptor.
Since 1985, she has taught at the School of Decorative Arts and at the Geneva School of Fine Arts in the ceramics department and was appointed head of the Design-Object section until 2005.

Notable exhibitions
– Sèvres Museum, 2010, 2016, 2018
– Ariana Museum (Swiss Ceramics and Glass Museum) 1996
– The European Ceramic Work Centre, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands
– Joan B. Mirviss Gallery, New York, 2012.

Public commissions
– Architectural projects, gardens and fountains, in Switzerland and France.
– Fountain of the Collège Rousseau, Geneva. (Chamotte and glazed porcelain. 1990)
– Colombarium of the Saint Georges Cemetery, Geneva, 1989.

Upcoming exhibitions
– “Les flammes. L’art vivant de la céramique” au Musée d’arts moderne de Paris, 2021
– “Empreintes Japonaises”, Association Giroussens Céramique à Giroussens
– Solo exhibition at HEAD-GE, Geneva, Switzerland in January 2021.