Saya Moriyasu has exhibited at venues including the Deitch Art Parade (New York), Aqua Art Miami (Florida), Montserrat College of Art (Massachusetts), Henry Art Gallery Gift Shop Project, Bellevue Arts Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and Wing Luke Museum for the Asian American Experience (Washington state unless noted).

After graduating with a BFA from the University of Washington, Moriyasu was awarded residencies at Skowhegan and at Pilchuck Glass School. An alumnus member of SOIL Artist-Run Gallery and represented by J. Rinehart Gallery in Seattle, Washington.

Moriyasu’s Inspirations include Americana, consumerism, humor, the decorative arts, class, history, Buddhism and a love of beauty. Her work is often comprised of many small pieces that make up a larger piece, in clay, wood, prints, and other materials.

Saya Moriyasu’s works can be found in the collections of the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Wing Luke Museum, Whatcom Museum, Western Gallery, Western Washington University, NW Museum of Arts and Culture, and Washington State University and more.

Exhibiting consistently since 2002, Saya Moriyasu’s intriguing sculptures are beautiful forms that beg to be asked their story. Of her work, Moriyasu says:

I love creating open stories in my artwork.

My hands have touched, brushed, and molded the art. Figurative elements connect the viewer with an emotional alliance and an implied story. The plot is open to interpretation and embellishment. Exploration reveals cultivated references: animism, Americana, class, history, consumerism, humor, decorative arts, Shintoism and love of beauty.

The mix of my Japanese father and my Oregon-born and raised-on-a-farm mother made an incongruent world where a beautiful Kannon (goddess of mercy) shared the same space as a polyester afghan blanket. Living with that mix makes me love that same odd mix in chinoiserie (the European art/design made in a Chinese style). That wrongness is right to me.

Henry Art Gallery

Seattle Art Museum

Tacoma Art Museum

Safeco (Liberty) Art Collection

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience

Asian Counseling and Referral Services

City of Seattle Portable Works Collection

Whatcom Museum (Bellingham)

Western Gallery, Western Washington University (Bellingham)

NW Museum of Arts and Culture (Spokane)

Museum of Art, Washington State University (Pullman)