Houston Metal Arts Guild

a community of makers and creators working with all types and forms of metal 

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Member Spotlight:

Masumi Kataoka

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Masumi Kataoka was born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. She earned her MFA in Metalsmithing at the University of North Texas. Throughout her career, Kataoka has been interested in bringing out our emotions through her work. She is currently working on wearable art utilizing insect-derived structures. This direction has evolved from her interest in the way children anthropomorphize stuffed animals for security, why many children’s books have animal and insect characters, why humans have used such subjects symbolically throughout history. She likes the use of these motifs since they establish emotional distance thereby eliciting a more powerful response. Through her process, insects are transformed into metal and glass—once-living material is put back into life, making them more permanent.

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