Masako Hamaguchi’s jewelry evinces her passion for symbols as a means of communication. The theme is a function of her numerous international moves, necessitating the acquisition of entire new sets of languages—spoken, written, visual, and gestural. Hamaguchi delights in bringing out the hidden or unexpected properties of a given material, often allowing the process of discovery to direct her making.
Born in Tokyo, Hamaguchi spent her childhood in Yokohama and Hong Kong and moved to the U.S. as a teenager. She earned her B.F.A. at the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan and subsequently studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. After graduating from Rietveld, Hamaguchi returned to Tokyo to teach at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry. Dividing her time between Japan and Germany for a period, Hamaguchi then settled in an English village close enough to London for the metropolitan life but rural enough to be able to enjoy nature and walking her beloved corgi with her husband.
