Menomonie, WI 
My work is the means to awake viewers and wearers, make them aware of their own bodies and the evanescence of life. It becomes a theater for the indelible physical and emotional memories of everyday. I present rampant, uncontrolled growth and decay in my work. The objects are both sensual and strange, and suggest an experience of the body that is altered by the tactile and visual characteristics of the article.
Engaging craft as process is an important part of my work. Because craft and body beautification methods signify an obsession with ideal beauty, a human fantasy only objects are able to embody.
Masako Onodera utilizes craft techniques in her art and connects the audience emotionally to the materials and practices employed. Her creations suggest an experience of the body altered by the tactile and visual characteristics of the object.
Onodera was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2011 and received the Society of North American Goldsmith’s Educational Endowment Scholarship in 2006 and 2007. Her work is featured in many of the Lark Books 500 series, Metalsmith magazine and part of many private and public collections such as the Museum of Contemporary Craft, OR, the Mobile Museum of Art, AL, and the Toledo Museum of Art, OH. The artist graduated with an MFA in Metals from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and is an assistant professor in Art Metals at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Selected Awards and Grants
2014 Juror’s award: People moving the field forward in an interesting and thoughtful way, CraftForms 2014, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, USA
2011 Individual Excellence Award in 2011, Ohio Arts Council, USA
Artist Scholarship Award, Ohio Designer Craftsmen, USA
Jewelry+Objects 2011, June Hauk Award, Michigan Silversmiths Guild, USA
2007 Society of North American Goldsmith Student Endowment Scholarship
The Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
28th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition Juror’s Award, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ, USA
Materials: Hard and Soft 2007 Exhibition Award, Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, TX, USA
Verdell Frazier Young Scholarship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
2006 Society of North American Goldsmith Student Endowment Scholarship
Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
2005 Brodie Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
2004 Contemporary Craft Collection Purchase Award, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN, USA
2003 NICHE Student Awards Finalist, NICHE Magazine, Baltimore, MR, USA
2002 General Scholarship for Summer 2002, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA, USA
2001 The 2nd Cheongju International Craft Competition Honorable Mentions, Cheongju, South Korea
Selected Public Collections
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, USA
The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, Bloomington, IN, USA
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL, USA
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR, USA
Kamm Teapot Foundation, Sparta, NC, USA
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN, USA
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA
Selected Publications
2014 Art Jewelry Forum SHIFT by Jess Tolbert, reffered, On-line Exhibition Review, http://www.artjewelryforum.org/exhibition-reviews/shift
2013 Fiber Art Now 2013, Plastics in Fiber by Leisa Rich, reffered, p22, Vol.2 Issue4, East Freetown, MA, USA
2012 Metalsmith 2012, Vol. 32, No. 5, p.59, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
2011 21st Century Jewelry, Lark Crafts, Asheville, NC, USA
Art Jewelry Today 3, Schiffer Publishing, PA, USA
Metalsmith 2011, Vol. 31, No.4, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
2010 Museum, January/February 2010 Vol. 89, No. 1, American Association of Museums, DC, USA
2009 Metalsmith 2009, Vol. 30, No. 2, p.15, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
500 Plastic Jewelry Designs, p.43, 98, Lark Books, Ashville, NC, USA
500 Enameled Objects, p.115, Lark Books, Ashville, NC, USA
ACTIVA, No.38, Design Deffusion Edizioni, Milan, Italy
2008 500 Pendants & Lockets, p.112, Lark Books, Ashville, NC, USA
2007 Metalsmith 2007, Vol. 27, No. 5, p.59, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
SNAG News May/June 2007, Vol. 15, No. 3, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
500 Earrings, p.35, p.130, Lark Books, Ashville, NC, USA
2006 Metalsmith 2006, Vol. 26, No. 5, p.60, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
SNAG News Letter 2006, July/August, Vol. 14, No. 3, Society of North American Goldsmiths, OR, USA
2005 Fabulous Jewelry from Found Objects, p.36 Lark Books, NC, USA
2004 The New York Times, July 4, 2004
“Ah, the Beauty of Genetic Engineering, and Other Sculptures, ” Exhibition Review, New York, NY, USA
2003 Good Times Santa Cruz County’s News & Entertainment Weekly
Feature of the Art “Blown Away” Solo Exhibition Review, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
2002 Museum Currents 2002, March/April, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Solo Exhibitions
2011 “Tactile Bodies” William Busta Gallery, Cleveland, OH, USA
2009 “The Way of Flesh” International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL, USA
2003 “Genetically Modified” L. H. Selman Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
1997 “Masako Onodera Recent Work” Gallery Ikusasu, Tokyo, Japan
Selected Invitational Exhibitions
2016 forthcoming, May, Title undecided, Union Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA
forthcoming, May, Title undecided, Galerie La Vitrine Au Soleil, Brussels, Belgium
forthcoming, September, SHADOW THEMES; FINDING THE ORESENT IN THE PAST, Reinstein/Ross Gallery, NY, USA
2015 Project 837, Project PLASE, Baltimore, MD, USA
2014 (In)Organic, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, USA
2013 Shift: Contemporary Makers That Define, Expand and Contradict The Field of Art Jewelry
Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
Miyazawa and Onodera: 3D Invitational, Leeds Gallery, Earlham College, Richmond, IN, USA
2012 Body Language, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, USA
2011 Sparkle Plenty 7: Organ/Ism, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA, USA
Objects of Status, Power and Adornment, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA, USA
Nomadic Fantasia, Indi-go Art Gallery, Champaign, IL, USA
All Things Asian, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, USA
Wearable Sculpture, California State University Long Beach, CA, USA
Process and Practice: Collaborations Between Metalsmith and Printmakers, Northern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, USA
Exhibition in Motion, The Society of North American Goldsmith Annual Conference, Houston, TX, USA
2010 Contemporary Metal Art –Sailing to the future, Industrial Exhibition Hall, The Vestige of Heijyo Palace, Nara, Japan
The Plastic Show, Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco, CA, USA
20/20, Figure One Gallery, Champaign, IL, USA
Transmutations, Traveling Exhibition, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston TX, Facere Jewelry Art Gallery, Seattle WA, Gallery Loupe, Montclair NJ, USA
Exhibition in Motion, The Society of North American Goldsmith Annual Conference, Houston, TX, USA
2009 NEXT ICONOCLASTS, Hoffman Galley, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR, USA
Exhibition in Motion, The Society of North American Goldsmith Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2008 OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL, USA
Pulse of a Perfect Heart, I space Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
LINEAGE & LEGACY, The Hall Gallery, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA, USA
3rd Annual Intercollegiate Metals Exhibition, Gallery 100, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
The Art of Contemporary Craft Exhibition, Weatherhead Gallery, University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
2007 Natural Tendency, The Link Gallery, Champaign, IL, USA
The Teapot Redefined, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA, USA
2006 Evolution: Form and Function, The Link Gallery, Champaign, IL, USA
2005 Contemporary Works In Glass, Ruby Green Contemporary Art Center, Nashville, TN, USA
The Appalachian Center for Craft: Faculty and Resident Artists, Leu Art Gallery, Belmont University, Nashville, TN, USA
Illuminations 2, 1212Gallery, Burlingame, CA, USA
2004 Illuminations, 1212Gallery, Burlingame, CA, USA
2003 Botanicals The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA, USA
Northern Lights, Running Ridge Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Selected Juried Exhibitions since 2001
2016 Wisconsin Biennial 2016, Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI, USA
2015 Adorn: Contemporary Wearable Art, Women Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
2014 CraftForm 2014, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, USA
2014 New Fibers 2014, Eastern Michigan University Gallery, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
2013 CraftForm 2013, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, USA
2011 Jewelry+Objects, Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art of the Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, MI, USA
Best of 2011, traveling exhibition, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, The Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, Kent State University, OH, USA
2010 Carnic, Norman and Onodera, Parkwood Gallery, Toledo, OH, USA
2010 Fine Contemporary Craft National Exhibition, Artspace Visual Art Center, Raleigh, NC, USA
2009 The Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition, Ishikawa Wajima Urushi Art Museum, Wajima, Japan
Best of 2009, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, The Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, Kent State University, OH, USA
2008 The Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition, Meitetsu M’za Exhibition Hall, Kanazawa, Japan
Led By Thread, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA, USA
Co-laboratory, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, USA
Composing Good and Evil, online exhibition, www.ethicalmetalsmith.org
Touching Warms the Art, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR, USA
2007 Mesa Contemporary Art’s 29th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ, USA
Close to the Skin, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL, USA
Craft Forms 2007, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, USA
Exploring Boundaries: Evolutionary Metal, Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
ITAMI International Craft Exhibition 2007, The Museum of Arts and Crafts ITAMI, Hyogo, Japan
Fiber National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA, USA
The Kinsey Institute’s Juried Erotic Art Show 2007, The Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA
Mesa Contemporary Art’s 28th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ, USA
2007 Materials: Hard and Soft, Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, TX, USA
Mixed Message, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA, USA
2006 Multiples, The Jewelry Studio, Rehoboth Beach, DE, USA
Thoughts Materialized 2006 SNAG Juried Student Exhibition, Mars Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Reinterpreting the Vessel, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
The Kinsey Institute’s Juried Erotic Art Show 2006, The Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA
I have a Dream, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
2005 Craft USA ’05 National Craft Triennial, The Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, USA
2004 Off the Rim: Selections from the Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, USA
Best of Tennessee Craft Biennial Exhibit, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN, USA
2003 bigLITTLE, Craft and Cultural Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
Society of North American Goldsmith Annual Juried Student Exhibition 2003
California College of Arts and Crafts SF campus, San Francisco, CA, USA
2002 Exemplary Contemporary 2002, Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, University of California, CA, USA
Bay Area Student Sculpture Biennial, The 600 Townsend Building, San Francisco, CA, USA
2001 The Second Cheongju International Craft Competition -The Breath of Nature
Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2001, Cheongju Arts Center, Cheongju, South Korea
Lectures and Workshops Presented
2016 forthcoming, “Fibersmithing” Workshop, Zoom symposium, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA
2013 “The Permeable Process” Visiting artist lecture, “Fibersmithing” demonstration, studio visits to MFA candidates in glass Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA
Artist Talk, Earlham College, Richmond, IN, USA
“The Permeable Process” Visiting artist Lecture and “Fibersmithing” Workshop,
University of Wisconsin-OshKosh, OshKosh, WI, USA
“The Permeable Process” Visiting Artist Presentation, HAWK University, Hildesheim, Germany
2012 “Fiber Techniques in Jewelry” Lecture and demonstration
East Carolina University Metals Symposium, Material Topics, Greenville, NC, USA
2012 “The Permeable Process” Visiting Artist Lecture and critic University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA
“Fibersmithing” Workshop, Tap Studio, Cleveland, OH, USA
“The Permeable Process” Visiting Artist Lecture and felting demonstration, Tokyo Kasei University, Tokyo, Japan
2011 “The Permeable Process” Artist Presentation -Spotlight On, Emerging artist lecture,
Society of North American Goldsmiths’ annual conference in Seattle, USA
2010 “Tactile Bodies” Featured Artist Lecture
Michigan Silversmith Guild, Annual Meeting, Eastern Michigan University, MI, USA
2009 “The Way of Flesh” Visiting Artist Lecture and, “Felt Jewelry” 2 days Workshop
Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, TX, USA
“The Way of Flesh” Guest Artist Lecture, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan
“Urushi lacquer” Guest Speaker, Japanese Club, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA
2007 “The Lacquer from Nature –Urushi” Lecture and Demonstration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
“Urushi lacquer” Guest Speaker, Japan House, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Residency
2016 Smitten Forum, Pocosin Art Center, Columbia, NC, USA
2003-2005 Artist in Residence in Metals Program, Tennessee Technological University Appalachian Center for Craft, Smithville, TN, USA
Education
MFA in Metals, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008
BFA in Interior Design, Joshibi University of Art and Design, Kanagawa, Japan, 1989
Professional Affiliations
Society of North American Goldsmith, 2003, 2005~present
American Craft Council, 2003~present
Michigan Silversmith Guild, 2008~present
Teaching Experiences
2012 – present Assistant Professor in Art Metals, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI, USA
2008 – 2012 Instructor, Jewelry Making and Metalsmithing, 3D foundation, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA
Where to Buy
Work is not available for sale through the SNAG website. Please contact the artist directly to inquire about making a purchase.