Born and raised in Japan, currently live and work in New York.

     Her artworks have been exhibited internationally such as in France, Belgium, Germany, Japan and the U.S., including Salon d’Automne in Paris, AIPAD photography Shows (prestigious fine art dealer show) in New York, photo l. a. in Los Angeles, and many more. Her works are in private and corporate collections as well as in public collection such as in Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris as a part of their photography permanent collection. Magazines and newspapers in Japan and U.S. have interviewed and published articles about her life and artwork.  Received several awards including some First Prizes in international photography competitions. In 2010, she was awarded to “PAA Artist-in-Residency,” and spent summer at the studio in Pennsylvania to create the series of encaustic mixed-media work.

     Oba's work explores human life as a journey, and is a metaphor for our lives. It is both a deep examination of her soul and an exploration of universal experiences such as sorrow, loneliness, frustration and turmoil (darkness) as well as peace, joy, hope and love (light). She has spent much of her career exploring these themes using photography including a traditional chemical process. As she continues pursuing art, she has expanded to mixed media painting and collage, especially incorporating text, photographic images and encaustic based on the individual concept of each series.

     Her early career was in broadcasting, as a newscaster on Japanese television both in New York and in Japan. Her responsibility on the television work involved film direction and editing that first gave her an appreciation of the power of visual imagery. This experience became the basis of her visual arts career. She studied photography and other media in a master’s program in the U.S. and did additional studies in France and Japan.

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