Mariko Sumioka

Mariko Sumioka is a Japanese contemporary jewellery artist whose work is deeply influenced by architecture and is devoted to exploring the subtle relationships between architecture, the body, and time. In her works, architecture is no longer regarded as a monumental structure external to the human body, but is miniaturised into a wearable form, becoming a medium through which the passage of time can be perceived and personal memory can be carried.

Sumioka has a diverse cultural background. Japanese culture and Zen philosophy have accompanied her throughout her upbringing, shaping her understanding of space and order. Her experience of growing up in Brazil also provided significant inspiration, sparking a lifelong fascination with jewellery. Her studies at the Edinburgh College of Art marked a crucial turning point in her creative career. There, she systematically engaged with the conceptual framework of contemporary jewellery, understood how material and concept work in tandem, and reaffirmed the value of craft.

In her practice, through the analysis of traditional Japanese architecture, she deconstructs architectural forms into basic elements and poetically reassembles them into abstract architectural collages, presented in the form of wearable objects. In her work, she employs gold, silver, enamel, bamboo, patinated copper, and aged textiles such as kimono fabrics, carefully orchestrating a dialogue between materials, form, and texture. Different materials retain their own textures and histories within the works, and through meticulous craftsmanship, a subtle internal tension is formed between the individual components.

By miniaturising architecture together with the human lives it contains, Sumioka seeks to capture the passage of time within individual lives, particularly those fleeting moments and singular personal experiences. Her works propose an alternative mode of dwelling: when worn on the body, the body no longer seeks shelter in monumental architectural structures, but instead actively enters these miniature, abstract architectural collages. Through the wearer’s own perception and memory, the unspoken aspects of the work are completed, allowing jewellery to become a space that is continuously generated.