Leo Amino

Leo Amino was a Japanese-American sculptor. Born in 1911 in Taiwan, to Japanese parents, he spent much of his early life in Tokyo, where his father's calligraphy and his mother's floral design interested him in working in art. He immigrated to the United States in 1929, enrolling at San Mateo Junior College before briefly attending New York University. In 1937 he began studying direct carving at under Chaim Gross at the American Artists School, with his pieces being included in the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Amino's artistic career was briefly halted by World War II, during which he served as a translator. After the war concluded, he noticed the increased availability of synthetic resin due to its use as a substitute for materials that were needed for the war effort. He became the first artist to experiment with and use synthetic resin as an artistic medium, alternating between resin and wood in his sculptures. From 1948 to 1950, he taught at Black Mountain College, and from 1952 until 1977 taught at Cooper Union. Amino held myriad solo and group exhibitions, including ones at the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and his work is held at institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He died on December 1, 1989, in New York City.