What is Maro Dori?
Noble bird with Maro Eyebrows
In ancient Japan, especially in Heian period (794-1185 CE), where Japanese arts and culture flourished in their own right at the Imperial Court in Kyoto, aristocrats and courtiers painted eyebrows (after shaving off their real eyebrows) to present and express their nobility.
Often “Maro” was used for noblemen’s names and they would call themselves “Maro” too.
Born in 2010, Michiko is a very young artist influenced so much by the beautiful and genuinely Japanese fashion and culture of that time. She loved to draw since she was little and would draw birds which had to have "Maro eyebrows" and arc-shaped eyes like aristocrats of the old days!
This is how the Maro Bird or Maro Dori in Japanese, came to be.
Filipino-Japanese Gen Alpha Artist
Born and raised in Japan to a Japanese mom and Filipino dad, Michiko was also exposed to Filipino culture at an early age, fascinated by its history, traditions and Filipino food (and snacks). She has this inner passion for learning about different cultures as well as a natural appreciation for her Japanese roots as expressed in Maro Dori art.
She's currently learning Mandarin Chinese after finding out that Japanese culture was greatly influenced by China in ancient times. Michiko is an introverted child who has difficulty expressing herself in public, but hopefully Maro Dori would open up and present "Michiko's World" for everyone to see!
Delicate Art Style and Theme
Before entering NFTs, Michiko was painting traditional style art using traditional mediums such as sumi ink, natural mineral pigments, gold paint powders, etc. She was fascinated with the theme of "kacho-fugetsu", that literally means "Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon", Japanese aesthetics and thoughts on beauty and art.
She loved the notion of combining her Maro Dori with the beauty of nature such as flowers, trees, moon, sun, rocks, snow, water, etc. Currently, she still does sumi ink art and tries to develop her delicate skills. Michiko decided to enter NFT space in February 2022, challenging to transform her Maro Dori and art style into digital art.
Present Collection and Future Plan
With parental guidance and management, “Maro Dori Collection" started on the Polygon chain on OpenSea from February 2022 with the purpose of introducing Maro Dori and getting feedbacks as basis for future plans. Within a two and half month period, 115 Maro Dori were sold and we are extremey happy and grateful for this achievement.
In May 2022, Michiko launched 2 collections on ethereum chain. "Maro Dori in Sumi-ink" and "Maro Dori Masterpiece" collection. Thouhg the pricing is higher than in polygon chain, sales are slowly growing.
Maro Dori flying in Metaverse
In June 2022, Maro Dori started to be featured by The Rocket Gallery, on Spatial metaverse platform. Finding its suitable and ideal space where Maro Dori can fly freely and happily, Maro Dori's own spaces were created on Spatial in September 2022 in collaboration with Japanese calligrapher.
Please follow her on Twitter or Instagram and stay tuned!
