Othoniel was born in Saint-Étienne, France in 1964. He graduated from the École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris Cergy (Cergy-Pontoise) in 1988 and was selected to participate in the Villa Medici’s artist-in-residence program (Rome) from 1995 to 1996. He began working with glass in around 1993, and ever since an encounter with Murano glass, this material has become an essential component in Othoniel’s work. He is known for his sculptures resembling knots or braids that use decorative bead-like chains of glass spheres and sometimes takes an architectural approach with large installations or public art. The artist’s work was presented by international curator Jan Hoet at “documenta IX” in 1992, and the “Too French” exhibition of the same year at the Hara Museum ARC (Tokyo) served as the first opportunity for Ottoniel’s art to be shown in Asia. A major retrospective exhibition “My Way” at the Center Pompidou (Paris, 2011) became something of an international event for Othoniel, going on to tour the world and be presented at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art (Seoul), the Hara Museum ARC, the Macao Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum (New York). In addition to the glass fountain sculptures at the Palace of Versailles, Othoniel has been commissioned for works around the world, including the installation of many heart-shaped sculptures from his “Kokoro” series in Japan.