Yoko Sekino-Bové was born in Osaka, Japan. She graduated from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan, with a BA degree in Graphic Design before moving to the United States. She worked as a commercial graphic designer in Los Angeles before she developed a passion for ceramics. She received an MFA from the University of Oklahoma in 2004. After working as an apprentice at Rowantrees Pottery in Blue Hill, ME, Sekino-Bové served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, FL. She has been a visiting artist at Auburn University in Auburn, AL, Winthrop University in Rock Hill, NC, and Morehead State University in Morehead, KY. In the fall of 2009 she completed a residency at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN with aid from a McKnight Fellowship. She currently teaches at Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, PA and works from her studio at home. She was recently selected as a 2011 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist.