Makoto Fujimura's work combines traditional Japanese
painting technique of Nihonga with a Western approach to abstraction. This technique uses ground minerals such as
azurite, malachite and cinnabar mixed with animal hide glue applied to handmade paper. Fujimura has said that the
Western artists who have most influenced his work include
Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.

Fujimura graduated with a B.A. from Bucknell University, then studied in a traditional Japanese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with several notable artists such as Takashi Murakami and Hiroshi Senju. He was the first non-native to participate in the Japanese Painting Doctorate Program, which dates back to 15th century.

Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1991
and currently acts as Creative Director for which he has
co-hosted several major conferences . He is represented
by Dillon Gallery in New York City and Tokyo. His work can
be seen at the National Modern Museum of Art in Tokyo, the
Saint Louis Museum, the Cincinnati Museum, and the CNN
building in Hong Kong. In 2003 he was appointed by President Bush to the National Council on the Arts.