Saya Moriyasu

(American, born 1966)

Saya Moriyasu loves creating “open stories” in her art. She is inspired by Americana, consumerism, humor, the decorative arts, history, Buddhism, and a love of beauty. She also notes that, “The mix of my Japanese father and my Oregon, raised-on-a-farm mother made an incongruent world where a beautiful Kannon (goddess of mercy) shared the same space as a polyester afghan blanket. Living with that mix makes me love that same odd mix in chinoiserie (European art made in a Chinese style). That wrongness is right to me.”

Moriyasu earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in ceramic sculpture from the University of Washington in 1991 where she studied under Akio Takamori and Patti Warashina.