The Many Faces of Shin Murayama

Japan's most-hyped mask maker is a man of various talents.

Born in 1977 in Japan’s Niigata prefecture, Shin Murayama moved to Tokyo and sought a career in fashion. By 1999, he had graduated from the prestigious Bunka Fashion College and began working on several different projects and labels. In 2006, he experimented with avant-garde fashion pieces under the label “The Library Police Group,” which was a collaboration with lauded designer Taku Midorikiwa of the eponymous label Midorikawa.

But it wasn’t until 2008 that Murayama would begin working on the project that made him one of underground street art’s most recognizable faces—even though the faces he became known for were anything but his own. Upon moving to the United States, Murayama began his art practice known at TWONESS, a series of masks made from repurposed garments, accessories, and other objects.