MAKIKO BERRY

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Makiko Berry was born in 1975 suburb of Kyoto in Japan. Her artistic nature formed at age 5, observing spiders making their webs and ants bringing their food into the holes; the flow of a river and the clouds in the sky, playing with dirt; observing the changing of color of the mountains through the day and through the year… These precious experiences with nature made her a free spirited person.

In 1999, she graduated from Seian University Art and Design in Shiga Japan. She studied Japanese-style painting (using mineral pigments and hide glue). Fortunately, she met a mentor and a great artist Mr.Hirohiko Nakano(1927-2004). He gave her strength and confidence as an artist. It was a big year for her. She had her first solo show in Kyoto, and she received a fellowship in the Asian Art Conservation Department at The Metropolitan Museum of New York. At the Museum, she had a chance to see and touch important paintings as a conservator. While in New York, she found a great method for expessing herself : “printmaking”. This opened a new chapter in her life.

Okamoto arrived in Los Angeles in 2001. Since then she has been an active member of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society and the Los Angeles Art Association. In 2003, she got married to a rap musician, Wildelux. And the next year she gave a birth to their first son. Becoming a mother didn’t stop her creativity. In fact, it increased her passion toward art more. In 2006, her first visual book “Me! A Mommy?” was published.

Okamoto’s artwork is unique and playful, and has been shown in Japan, in America and Europe She hopes to continue to create her works until the end of her life. Because she was born to create.

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