Yoko Sekino-Bové was born in Osaka, Japan. She graduated from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan, with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in graphic design before moving to the United States. She worked as a commercial designer in Los Angeles before her passion for ceramic art took her onto a new path. She received a Master of Fine Art degree in Ceramics from the University of Oklahoma, and served as an artist-in-residence in the ceramic department of the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida for a year.

In 2005 Yoko moved to Washington, Pennsylvania, and she started working from the home studio while teaching at local colleges and art centers. Her porcelain work has been included in prestigious exhibitions nationally and internationally. She was selected as one of the “emerging artists 2011” by the Ceramic Arts Daily Council in the United States. She presented a solo exhibition at the Red Stars Studios in Missouri, Plinth Gallery in Denver, Colorado, be Galleries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Appalachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee, Charlie Cummings Gallery in Florida, and The Clay Studio in Pennsylvania. Her work was included in “Push Play” NCECA Invitational Exhibition in 2012. Her work has also been shown in Canada, Japan, Latvia, Turkey, Portugal, Dominican Republic, and she participated to Icheon World Ceramic Biennale 2013, in Icheon, South Korea, and served as an artist-in-residence at Cerdeira Village of Art and Craft in Portugal in 2016. Yoko completed the Arts/Industry residency at John Michael Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin in 2014 and served as a fall residency artist at Archie Bray Foundation in Montana in 2015. In March 2017, in conjunction with NCECA Pittsburgh conference, her solo show “Mixed Signals” was presented at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

Her ceramic works are featured in “500 cups”, “500 platters and chargers”, “500 teapot volume 2”, “Humor in Craft”, “Surface decoration techniques for potters” and “Cast: Art and Objects” as well as other craft books and a variety of periodicals including “American Craft” and “Ceramics Monthly” magazines. Her technical articles were featured on “Ceramics Monthly” and “The Pottery Making Illustrated” magazines occasionally.