Mariko Mori

Japanese video artist born 1967 in Tokyo, Japan, Mariko Mori grew up in her hometown: a city rapidly assimilating Western culture into its urban fabric. Though selective, this introduction of other styles and technologies provoked a syncretic evolution: a process that may be identified in Mori's work. Casting herself in numerous guises, Mori revisits the genre of the costumed self-portrait, but synthesises this Western artistic tradition with revitalizing elements. Thus, her application of modern technology to ancient mythology has created a pantheon of ephemeral self-entities, which shimmer in the evanescent aura of digital post-production. Her craft - like many an old master's - is employed in making real the fantasy of incarnation: a story of god made man, or in Mori's simulation, divine being manifest as immaculate woman. Mori's fascination with the construction of artifice, and her rigorous attention to detail, may be traced to her early training at the Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo. As well as studying the discipline of fashion design, Mori witnessed another side of couture when working as a model. This early experience - self-identity subsumed by the designer's vision - proved formative, and aided the development of Mori's role-playing technique. Pursuing her education, Mori moved to London, but changed her area of study from fashion to fine art. She attended the Byam Shaw School of Art from 1988, then gained a place at Chelsea College of Art in 1989. Graduating three years later, Mori showed photographic works that referred to her experiences as a model. Later that year, she crossed the Atlantic to undertake the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art, completing her studies in 1993. However, it was her native Tokyo that consistently featured as a backdrop for her early images.