About Mai
Artist/Educator
I am an interdisciplinary, performance, and installation artist and educator from Fukuoka, Japan, raised by a mother with a keen eye for design and a socially conscious father, currently based on the Monterey Peninsula in California.
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My process oriented art combines site-specific installation and participatory performance for which I create the situation where the audience gathers, acts, and shares themselves with each other. Inspired by everyday life activities such as cooking, eating, meeting, greeting, and having conversations, my work inspires the audience to take collective action to create positive human interactions, learn from each other, and build a temporary community with respect, understanding, and care.
Creating a sense of freedom, openness, and hopefulness is vital for the shared experience where the participants are encouraged to discover their own creative voice, act on their self expression without judgment, and gain a sense of community.
Artist
After receiving a BA in English from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, I moved to the United States with a dream of becoming an artist and earned an MFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. My experience of living and working in Tohoku, Japan, after the devastating earthquake, tsunami, and explosions of nuclear power plants in 2011 reminded me of the importance of human relationships and communities with close networks for survival, resilience, and sustainability in the time of danger and emergency. I've done performances and created installation art at The Lab, Southern Exposure, and other art galleries in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Monterey Museum of Art, and Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in California as well as art and non-art venues in Japan.
Educator
I accidentally discovered my quality as an educator when a gallerist in San Francisco told me that my art was educational. Since 2008, I’ve taught visual art and community development at institutions of higher education: being a professor at Hartnell College, Monterey Peninsula College, an assistant director and visiting faculty for youth and adult programs at San Francisco Art Institute, and a lead instructor at Center for Cities + Schools, UC Berkeley. I’ve also worked with the Association of California School Administrators, MIIS Immigrant Rights Alliance at Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Graduate School of Education at Waseda University, National Institute for Educational Policy Research in Japan, Tohoku School by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as well as other schools and non profit organizations in the U.S. and Japan.
