KIYOMI BAIRD

Biography

I grew up in California as a third generation Japanese American. My non-english speaking grandmother was the household matriarch and a powerful influence on my childhood. After living much of my life in the US and Berlin, I moved to Tokyo. There I felt a resonance with Japanese behavior and aesthetics. I recognized for the first time certain aspects of my personality and art as essentially Asian. I often experience this oscillating cultural duality when I work. Indeed this inner tension may be what drives my efforts to create visual expressions of harmony and balance through the use of multicultural textures and patterns.

I am inspired by and learn from all who cross my path. I love learning and exploring. It is the fuel for my work and the food for my spirit. I have had the opportunity to work in dance, theater and design. The breath of my experiences enables me to give more of myself to my art and others.

Education: University of California, Berkeley, Kunstakademie Berlin; private and class instruction in California, Berlin, Tokyo and New Jersey.

Exhibited in numerous juried shows in the Northeast, galleries in San Francisco and Tokyo; museums in Tokyo.

Private collections in USA, Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.