Micki Watanabe Spiller is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in a deep reverence for books as tactile vessels of knowledge, memory, and connection. Her practice is informed equally by reading, writing, and making—treating the book not only as a physical structure but as a conceptual framework for community, storytelling, and exchange. Drawing on years of literary immersion, she constructs embroidered garments and sculptural “book jackets” that reimagine texts as wearable, intimate architectures. Her process begins with book selection and journaling, evolving into sewn forms embedded with language, narrative themes, and layered imagery. These works propose alternative modes of communication—public and private, solitary and communal—where garments become sites of intellectual and emotional engagement. Spiller has been awarded grants from Printed Matter, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and Art Matters, and has held residencies at Bemis Center, Smack Mellon, Saltonstall, and World Views at the World Trade Center. She holds an MFA from The Ohio State University and an MLS from Queens College, and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. She is also a faculty member at Parsons, The New School for Design and Pratt Institute.
When not teaching, or making things in her studio, she can be found on long bike rides around the city.