Japanese artist living in Berkeley creates public works to cope with the pandemic

OAKLAND, Calif. - Masako Miki of Berkeley says her focus on public art is a way to reach people from all walks of life. The Japanese artist is part of a new campaign in Oakland's Chinatown to help communicate a message of coming together.

"This is the shapeshifter tiger," the artist says as she shows her drawing on a shopping bag. Her work is inspired by her dual identity: a Japanese woman who lives in America.  

"The tiger and the snake are sacred animals in Asian cultures," Miki says of her drawings.

She has partnered with Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce to display her work with a message about how to survive this difficult time, a campaign launched this week.  

"The key is to collaborate together: artist and communities and business. We all have to take on this pandemic," says Miki.

Her work can be seen on storefronts including banks and bakeries. It has also been projected on a building in Oakland.

"I'm really learning about how we communicate, how I communicate as an artist," Miki says she's found an effective tool in communicating through public art.

In San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood, she has nine public art installations of various sizes.

They include a backscratcher, lips and plants. She calls her sculptures shape shifters that are ever-evolving entities that continue to re-invent themselves by embracing dualities and celebrating new identities: a self-reflection.

Miki hopes it is a theme that can connect people from all walks of life.

Her work displayed in a way that the public has easy and free access.

"It's really about creating a dialogue, making this dialogue continuous so people hear about important issues," says Miki.  

Her art work can also be seen for free at the Oakland Museum when it reopens, from mid-June through October.  

It will be displayed in the pre-ticket area.