Maiko Matsushima is a Japan-born, Philadelphia-based visual artist, costume designer and theater faculty at Bryn Mawr College. She challenges traditional notions of the American aesthetic and identity by creating visual and experiential works infused with a multiplicity of perspectives, and  incorporating influences on style, form and content from outside the U.S. Her designs have been seen at Tokyo International house in Japan, The Playwrights Horizons, CSC, ART NY, Soho Rep., The Joyce in NYC, The Children's Theater MN, La Jolla Playhouse CA, The Wilma Theater, Headlong, BalletX, Pig Iron Theater Co. in Philadelphia. She also worked as an associate costume designer on Broadway productions such as Spring Awakening, Radio Golf, Lestat, Assassins, Good Body and Pacific Overtures.  

After working as a theatrical designer in Japan, NYC and regional theaters around the U.S. for over two decades, Matsushima is now joined with David Brick, a co-founder of Headlong, in creating publicly engaged art. Their most recent collaboration was The Quiet Circus, a 15-month residency at the  Washington Avenue Green. Her works make luminous  to the naked eye what might otherwise be invisible or taken for granted.