About

Artist · Photographer · Filmmaker · Designer · Musician

Masashi Ohtsu is a multidisciplinary artist whose work moves between photography, physical materials, digital design, sound, film, and experimental performance.

Born in Osaka and raised between Japan and New York, Masashi studied at Rutgers University from 1983–84 and at Parsons School of Design from 1984–87, earning a BFA in Photography. His early career included work as a freelance photographer’s assistant and assignment photographer for Japanese and international publications.

Photography became both a profession and a way of navigating the city. Commercial assignments developed alongside New York’s downtown art scene, where he worked in studios, made installations, exhibited, and performed with experimental groups including Squat Theatre and 8th Street Productions.

Working with artist Stephen Torton, Masashi learned and worked on construction projects using a freestyle Stucco Fiorentino process in New York, Brazil, Paris, and Senegal. Materials and techniques from that practical work entered his paintings and mixed-media pieces. As technology became more accessible, this material experimentation expanded into multimedia.

In 1995, Masashi founded BMM Art and Computer Inc. as a family business with his father, Masakazu, and his brother, Ben. In 2001, he founded Buddhafunk, extending his work into independent music, sound, and moving image.