Mari Katayama Japanese, b. 1987

Born with tibial hemimelia, she chose to have her legs amputated at the age of nine. She creates self-portraits elaborately staged in her own room and outside with her hand-sewed sculpture and other decorative objects. Katayama’s work in Roppongi Crossing 2016, a popular survey show of Japanese contemporary art at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, caused a sensation. She also sings, models, acts, as well as writes and lectures. In 2019, Katayama's work was featured in both the Arsenal and Central Pavilion exhibiting areas of the 58th Venice Biennale, an international art exhibition in Venice, Italy.