Yuria Okamura is a Melbourne-based artist whose practice encompasses drawing, painting and installation. Inspired by animism and herbalism, she conflates botanical imagery with geometric forms derived from religious symbolism used in architecture and decoration across cultures.
Combining works on paper with wall drawings, her work enshrines nature within imagined architecture.

Okamura holds an MFA (Research) from the University of Melbourne and a BFA (Honours) from RMIT University. She has been awarded Australia Council Grants, Stuart Black Memorial Scholarship, Ursula Hoff Institute Drawing Award, LaTrobe Art Institute Writer’s Block Commission, Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award, RMIT Honours Travelling Endowment Scholarship, and recently shortlisted for National Works on Paper Award, Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award, Ravenswood Australian Women’s Award and Waverly Art Prize.
Okamura has been selected to participate in local and international residencies such as Sanskriti Kendra Residency (India), The Studios at MASS MoCA (USA), Abbotsford Convent Studio Residency (Australia), Bayside City Council Residency (Australia) and Takt Artist Residency (Germany). She has exhibited her work extensively at public, commercial and artist-run galleries including the National Gallery of Victoria, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Daine Singer, NotFair Art Fair, Incinerator Gallery, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, La Trobe Art Institute, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Anna Pappas Gallery, Dutoit Gallery (USA), Five Walls, Tributary Projects (Canberra), Kunstraum Tapir (Germany), Langford 120, Seventh Gallery, Japan Foundation Gallery (Sydney) and Mølla På Grim (Norway).

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