Rina Murao (b. 1975, Nagoya, Japan) is a sculptor based in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. She studied sculpture at Alfred University (BFA, 1998) and received her MFA (2002) and DFA (2006) from Tokyo University of the Arts. She is currently Associate Professor at Aichi University of the Arts.
While studying installation and environmental art in Western New York, she developed an interest in social geography, which led her to study landscape architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Career Discovery Program, 1997), further broadening her perspective. Her approach is also informed by her background in music; its rhythmic structures and spatial sensibility continue to influence her sculptural practice.
Her work explores how human spatiality—the relationships and interrelationships between humans and their surroundings—can be expressed through sculpture. Recent projects explore the psychological distance between human space and the horizon. In her Balcony series, she uses the balcony as a metaphor for a part of the human mind, marking the boundary between psychological and physical, or personal and extra-personal space.
Murao has received the Nomura Art Prize and grants from foundations including the Nitto Foundation, the Nomura Foundation, and the Hibi Science Foundation. Her works are in the collection of the University Art Museum of Tokyo University of the Arts.