David Revere McFadden, chief curator at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC, wrote, in the juror's Statement for the show, “Artists On Their Own: Ideas Of Function”, referring to Mariko's work as,“inspired by ethnic and folk pottery”, and was one of five artists in the show who's work,“... grew from the investigations and musings on the history of ceramics, works that spoke about function on both practical and cultural levels. This group underlines the poetic memories of function that inform our visual and tactile responses to the material.”

Mariko Swisher is a native of Sendai, Japan, a licensed calligrapher, kimono and tea enthusiast who emigrated to the US twenty years ago. Study of ceramics began in earnest in Japan where Mariko collected. Soon after arriving in New York City to be with her husband, painter Charles Swisher, she signed on to classes at Greenwich House Pottery School (scholarship awarded), and seminars at the 92nd St. Y, and the Skylands, NJ workshops, where she met and studied with Akio Takamori, Don Reitz, Peter Volkous, and Rudy Autio, among others.

At Greenwich House, faculty member Peter Callas encouraged Mariko and others in individual exploration of style and form. An initial interest in Japan-inspired earthy, high fired stoneware with Temmoku, Oribe, and Shino glazes lead ultimately to a study of the art from around the world and from the perspective of where Mariko's calligraphy skills and the interest in design and color would meet! Inspiration and experiment ensued from study of the form and decoration of European, ancient Near East, Greek pottery...more recently, back to the ceramics of Asia.

Mariko has exhibited her work in NYC at the Jane Hartsook Gallery, Brookfield Craft Center, CT, the Greater Reston Art Center in VA, and at many of the major juried fine art shows acrossthe U.S., where, she says, “I find that national juried fine art shows offer great reward through the direct contact and camaraderie with a specialized group of artists as well as with art enthusiasts. It is to the collectors among them that I owe my existance as an artist.”