Mariko is originally from the eastside of Oahu, but moved to the Bay Area in 2007 to pursue academic and career opportunities in the arts. She is a full-time curatorial assistant of modern and contemporary art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University and is also pursuing a combined Master’s degree in Museum Studies/M.B.A. at John F. Kennedy University. Mariko majored in Studio Art with an emphasis in painting at the University of Redlands and worked as a conservator’s aide and a curatorial assistant at the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.