Maiko Matsushima is a Philadelphia-based costume, set, visual and installation artist. Her works make luminous to the naked eye what might otherwise be invisible or taken for granted. A proud immigrant, born and raised in Japan, Matsushima’s work challenges traditional notions of the American aesthetic by creating visual and experiential works infused with a multiplicity of perspectives, and incorporating influences on style, form and content from outside the US. She works in the traditional theater, on and off Broadway, in experimental dance and in devised, ensemble performance and opera. Her recent designs have been seen at Prototype Opera, the Joyce in New York City, Wilma Theater, Arden, BalletX, Headlong, and Pig Iron Theater in Philadelphia, as well as commercial Broadway productions such as Spring Awakening (Tony Award for best musical) Radio Golf, Assassins (Tony Award for best revival), and Pacific Overtures (Tony Award for best costume design) as the associate costume designer. She is also the associate designer on Wicked in Japan.
After working as a theatrical designer nationally and internationally for two decades, Matsushima is now partnered with David Brick, a co-founder of Philadelphia’s Headlong Dance Theater, and Mary Jane Jacob, a curator of Social Practice in creating publicly engaged art. Their most recent collaboration was The Quiet Circus, a 15-month residency at the Washington Avenue Green that led to free weekly performances and a series of outdoor installations that audience was invited to touch and operate.
Her designs for stage have been featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Time Out NY, Village VOICE, Philadelphia Inquirer, American Theater Magazine, Entertainment Design Magazine, and more.
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