T
he odyssey began un-
expectedly. When an
American teacher of Eng-
lish showed up asking for
temporary work at the Okada family
dairy farm in Hokkaido, Japan, the
family was thrilled. Not only would
the young man help with chores, but
he could teach the children English,
too. Everything went so well that
after Eric returned to New York, he
invited then 13-year-old Momoko to
visit him.
She did visit, had fun, and learned
a lot more English. What followed
was a series of moves between
countries, cultures, and educational
programs that soon included attend-ing high schools in both Japan and
the U.S., and then went on for years.Discovering Metal
Early on Momoko knew she wanted
a career in the arts but thought it
would take the form of fi lm making.
“In 1998 I was enrolled in Southern Il-
linois University, Carbondale, and the
only elective available was a jewelry
making class.” As she was interested
in making fi lms, not jewelry, that
seemed like a bummer. Instead, she
loved it.
“I realized I could do metal work-
ing all day every day!” And that’s
just what she’s been doing. Although
she continues to make jewelry, todayher most complex and fascinating
pieces are larger objects created
with some of the most intricate and
demanding metalsmithing tech-
niques ever devised.
Momoko stayed with the metals
program at Southern Illinois, during
which she spent time in England as
an exchange student. After graduat-
ing cum laude with a BFA in metal-
smithing, she taught at an Illinois
high school, and tried to fi gure out
what to do next. Which, as she had
run out of visa, was to move back
to Japan (again), where her aunt
introduced her to an art school in
Kanazawa, in Ishikawa Prefecture.
“Kanazawa is the real Japan —Cultural
Fusion
Metals artist Momoko Okada’s
uniquely Japanese/American
aesthetic By Terri HaagBrown Organism
Sculpture
Raised copper, electroformed metal,
blown and fused glass and paperPHOTOS:^ COURTESY^ MOMOKO^
OKADA26 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST
26 Haag_CulturalFusion_mayjune20.indd 26 3/16/20 3:38 PM