Trained in the classical western art tradition with a studio practice in marble sculpture, Minoru Ohira received an MFA at Tokyo University of the Arts. He enlarged his art practice with three years post-graduate work at La Esmeralda, Mexico National Institute of Art in Mexico City, before moving to Los Angeles, where he has developed a practice of large wood sculpture that utilizes found objects, including downed branches and wood construction waste, along with stone and bronze. His naturalist forms, incorporating shapes derived from both the human body as well as vegetal shapes, is unique among sculpture making for incorporating meditative carving, similar to the method of process painters, such as Jackson Pollack.