Kaoru was born in Japan. She spent her childhood moving back and forth between Vancouver, Calgary, New York and Tokyo. After an advertising career in Tokyo, she moved to Honolulu where she met her Australian partner. She arrived in Australia in 2002 and currently resides in Sydney.
Kaoru received her Advanced Diploma of Jewellery and Object Design at the Design Centre” Enmore in 2011 where she received a student achievement award and a state medal. Her work is driven by strong simple ideas and often explores her background as a global nomad – the sense of belonging and not belonging, the idea of home and the concept of identity.
In her practice, she continues to enjoy experimenting with materials and techniques. Kaoru loves minimal but effective shapes, forms and repetition that explore different materials, textures, colors and composition, trying to see the world from the eyes of a child in the jewellery that she makes.
