Mari is a Seattle-based multidisciplinary artist, born in Tokyo, and grew up in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. She moved to Seattle permanently in the Spring of 2009, ever since then, the Pacific Northwest has been her second home. 

 

Pen + paper + acoustic guitar. Since discovering the joy of creating stories with these simple tools in her early teens, expressing indescribable sensations or feelings through art and music became an indispensable part of her life. Soon after moving to Seattle, she started creating zines, and paintings and also played music in a couple of bands.

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Fur Coats And Backpacks is a series of traveling cat portraits with their poems. Over a decade, she painted countless furry backpackers with watercolors based on sudden inspirations, impulses, and encounters as they continued their unique journeys with various stories. This whimsical collection, now a book from Chin Music Press, takes us out into the world and lets us feel the wind blowing through each traveling soul. "Travel Cats and I" the art exhibition is currently held in Seattle Japanese Garden through 6/30, 2024.

 

Mari currently works on a stop-motion animation short film called Sanpomichi and getting back to playing music. 

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2014 Artist Trust fellowship

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She loves:

Singing, laughing, traveling, fiddling, guitar, crystal bowls, being in nature, stars, campfire, books, coffee, twilight, Mugwort, candle...