Masako Kamiya was born and raised in Chiba, Japan, before relocating to Canada to complete a degree in Environmental Studies. From early on, Kamiya enjoyed painting and traditional forms of Japanese craftsmanship, which led her to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the Montserrat College of Art and later a Master's degree in Painting at the Massachusetts College of Art. Drawn to the luminosity of gouache and watercolor, she switched her medium from oil paint to acrylic gouache, which created a stylistic shift toward abstraction and minimalism. During this period, she worked as a conservator repairing surface damage to antique paintings, which allowed her to use minuscule brushes and mark-making, empowering her to perfect her signature sculptural application. Each protruding, tower-like paint element in her work is made entirely by hand, with incremental and repeated brush strokes.   

Kamiya's work was always based on elements, particularly ephemeral and abstract forms in nature, focused on color, surface, texture, and form, through the expressive use of mark-making. Formally, her work gradually shifted from organic compositions to a more structured use of a grid, which solidified during the Pandemic. Kamiya hand-traces her grids, which become a point of departure. Far from being a formal constraint, the grid facilitates her creative process, serving additionally as a metaphor for the digital world and technology that we've become increasingly dependent on. Time spent constructing her three-dimensional surfaces serves as a meditative antidote to the immediacy of the internet. Her increased difficulty in maintaining physical, bodily balance also plays a role in her need to create balance in each composition. 

Outside of her studio practice, Masako Kamiya is a painting professor at Montserrat College of Art. She enjoys hiking and walking in the woods, which adds clarity to her work and allows her to observe the colors in nature. Kamiya misses her native Japan and enjoys her trips home, which always affect her sense and use of color: a harmonious but striking combination.