Motoko Wada

Inspired by the children interviewed in Brownstones To Red Dirt and their belief in communication, the talented artist Motoko Wada submits this hopeful piece. Born and raised in Okayama Japan, Motoko’s childhood was filled with doodling and creating a fantasy world with her sister. At Kyoto University she studied philosophy and literature, and found that philosophy and art are similarly rooted inside her. After university Motoko freelanced as a muralist and illustrator in Tokyo, then went to work for Tanseisha Co. Ltd. where she planned and designed public spaces, museums and theme parks all over Japan including the National Science Museum, Osaka Museum of Wine and Asaka City Historical Museum among others. While at Tanseisha, Motoko became fascinated by the visual impact and possibility of computer graphics and taught herself enough to open a CG department within the company. Her passion for CG took off from there and she returned to school in the United States to earn an MFA at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. This was followed by work at Giant Killer Robots as a Technical Director on Fantastic Four and Son of the Mask. In 2005 Motoko migrated east to Blue Sky Studios where she began modeling characters and environments for such films as Ice Age 2 and 3, and Horton Hears a Who! Outside of her work at Blue Sky, Motoko can be found working on a personal project, an animated short film.

To see more of Motoko's artwork please visit her blog.