Where We Left Off

"Where We Left Off" is part of the ダブル • Daburu collection, a partnered exhibition with my friend and fellow Japanese-American artist Marie Okuma Johnston at Gallery 110.  This collection explores our bicultural identities and experiences between the United States and Japan. Daburu is the Japanese hepburn spelling of double, a rising identity of mixed-race Japanese. Traditionally, mixed-race Japanese have been called “hafu” or half, which only places value on the Japanese side of identity rather than embracing the entirety of a person’s experience. The title of Daburu is also a play on the double feature of the artist's stories, identities, parallels, and bicultural experiences.  My jichan was a professional artist, and painted right up to the end of his life. The last time I visited our family's home was shortly after he died, and this painting is based on what I saw when I walked into his studio: the last painting he worked on still sitting on his easel, his glasses, a vase of long-dead flowers still propped up beside his palette and brushes.  18"x24" oil on stretched canvas signed by artist