Mariko Dozono: A Rhythmic Life
Tenured Jewelry Artist seamlessly blurs the lines between jewelry-making and gold leaf painting with her S-Earrings!
It is rare to find such a talent which originates seamlessly from mind, heart, soul, & spirit as that of Mariko Dozono. Hailing from Kagoshima, Japan — Dozono’s creative journey is all-encompassing, radiating from her wondrous gold-leaf painting to the one-of-a-kind works of wearable art that are her jewelry creations. She wields a streamlined elegance juxtaposed with a natural simplicity. Her calm personality is one that is the true essence of tranquility. After moving to the United States in 1971, Dozono immersed herself in the study of ancient craftsmanship: mastering goldsmithing at the prestigious Kulicke Stark Academy and learning silversmithing at The New School in New York City. From the beginning, she was never just creating objects — she was breathing life into a lineage of artistry.
Her jewelry designs, like her paintings, feel like an extension of her own internal world: rhythmic, fluid, alive. A trained ballroom dancer, Dozono brings an intuitive sense of motion to everything she touches — an effortless weaving of rhythm and form that pulses through each of her creations. Her career has been as luminous as her materials: collaborations with luxury houses like Gucci and Georg Jensen, a thriving private clientele, and exhibitions around the world — from the Crown Building in New York to the Ambassador’s residence in Geneva, to Mitsukoshi Department Store in Ginza, Tokyo, one of Japan’s most revered cultural institutions.
Above, an assortment of Mariko’s best silver works (from left to right) — including the Artemis Brooch, Hestia, Tetis, Poseidon, and Demetal choker necklaces.
In her paintings, Dozono fuses traditional Kanazawa gold-leaf techniques with oil pastel overlays and a style that lets color flow beyond the canvas — hinting at an image, a world, that cannot be contained.Her recent exhibitions at the Nippon Club Gallery in New York and Iida Yayoi Art Museum in Tokyo from 2021 through 2024, along with her ongoing collaborations at Bergdorf Goodman as part of their Holiday Collection, affirm what her work has always quietly declared: true artistry needs no explanation — it speaks in every shimmering line, every crafted movement, every golden breath.
This same spirit of fusing tradition with movement came alive on the runway at New York Fashion Week, with Naoko Tosa's collection "Sound of Ikebana (Spring, Summer) where Dozono’s jewelry collection was featured." Tosa — a visionary new media artist — crafted a series of garments where ancient Japanese aesthetics meet advanced digital textile technology. Collaborating with Seiko Epson's Digital Textile Division, she captured the invisible poetry of sound vibrations — recording the fluid movement of a newborn’s voice with a high-speed camera at 1/2000 of a second — and translated it into swirling, vibrant prints.
The silhouettes mirrored the art of Ikebana flower arrangement: asymmetrical, intentional, reverent to space and movement. Flowing dresses, gender-neutral shapes, and recycled materials intertwined into a collection that spoke to both sustainability and spiritual artistry. Each garment wasn’t just worn — it was inhabited. It carried a resonance, a visible hum of life force. Tosa's work reminds us: technology, tradition, and soul do not have to be at odds. In the right hands, they harmonize.
