105. Maria Murayama 村山 まりあ

　Maria Murayama graduated from the Musashino Art University Faculty of Art and Design, Department of Sculpture in 2010, and completed her Master's degree in Sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2012, where she is currently a research student. She has been an artist-in-residence at Jingdezhen in China, Shiga Ceramic Cultural Park, and Giant Ear Gallery in Hong Kong. In 2019, she participated in the Savoir-faire des Takumi project, a Kyoto art market development support program. Her work focuses on the theme of "recognition," and her animal motif series was inspired by stuffed animals. Murayama says that she uses ceramics because she feels the potential of ceramics, which changes beyond imagination as it is fired, and that the act of going through the ceramic production process is well suited to expressing the act of overlaying an image on a subject, which is her concept. Her major awards include the Taito Ward Mayor's Encouragement Award (2012) and Art Award Tokyo (2012). His works are included in the collections of the Shiga Ceramic Cultural Park, the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, and the European Ceramic Work Centre (Netherlands).