Born in 1961, Oohira Hiroshi is a well known graphic designer who has received many prizes in Japan and abroad. He graduated with a degree in Design from the Osaka University of Arts in 1984, and is currently a Professor at the Art University in Osaka. He took up the practice of wood carving ten years ago and has been holding yearly exhibitions in Osaka and Tokyo since 2000. As Oohira is not a full time artist, he creates only 10 artworks a year; his delicate sculptures are all created from cypress wood, earthly creatures that act as parody to human life and its quest for knowledge.