Hello, I am Motoko
– Artist Biography -
Motoko was born in Tokyo into an artistic family. Her mother was a poet of tanka and haiku, and her father was a Hiroshima-born painter and art professor. Other family members were also practitioners and teachers of Japanese literature, calligraphy, and Noh theatre, providing Motoko with a rich cultural foundation from an early age.
After graduating from Tama Art University, she was selected as an artist-in-residence at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park and later commissioned to create works for the 400th anniversary of Kodaiji Temple in Kyoto. For this project, she produced clay sculptures and collaborated with lighting designer Satoshi Uchihara to highlight the temple’s historic architecture.
Motoko further expanded her artistic practice abroad. In the United States, she studied under Paul Soldner, a pioneer of contemporary Raku ware sculpture. She then undertook intensive training at the International Ceramic Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, under Sándor Kecskeméty and Nina Hall. Her time in Hungary also included residencies at the Siklós Ceramic Centre and the Hódmezővásárhely Artist House.
In Germany, she completed a Master’s degree in Ceramics and Glass at the University of Applied Sciences Koblenz in 2010. Following her graduation, she collaborated with artists as well as classical and jazz musicians across Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland.
Since relocating to Australia in 2013, Motoko has continued to exhibit widely. She was a finalist in the Victorian Ceramic Art Awards and the International Sculpture Exhibition at Scenic World (NSW) in 2015. Her residencies include Heritage Hill (Dandenong) and Fiskars Art Community (Finland) in 2014, Brighton “Billilla” (Bayside City Council) in 2015, and ART CIRCLE (Slovenia) in 2016. In 2017, she received the “Vibrant Acland Grant – Boat Dreams” (Port Phillip), and in 2018, she exhibited in Incident IV Accident in Poland, showcasing six Japanese artists. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Contemporary Sculptors Association (CSA).
A multidisciplinary visual artist, Motoko works with acrylic paint, ink, pastel, and calligraphy on Japanese paper, alongside sculptures in clay, moss, cardboard, plaster, and stone. Her installation practice incorporates diverse media including mirrors and video projections.
She currently lives in Melbourne, where she combines her artistic practice with research and work in early childhood education.