Katayama, Mari

Many years after her diagnosis of congenital tibial hemimelia, and the subsequent amputation of both her legs at age nine, Mari Katayama began to adorn herself as a living sculpture. Lace, seashells, and intricate patterns quite often embellish Katayama’s portrait scenes and also gild the custom frames that she makes. Plush embroidery often surrounds her. In cannot turn the clock back #009, the artist holds a plush heart shape that bears cloth-printed photographs of the fingers of her 3 family and friends. This artist stated in a 2017 press interview: “You can’t separate my body from my work. But, I’m not making art out of my disabilities.” Katayama has exhibited extensively in Japan, and her work is in the public collections of the Tate Modern, London; RISD Museum, Providence; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; and fondation antoine de galbert, Paris, among others.