Being Asian and American in Today’s America

Liberty? (2023)
“Liberty?” is an installation made from a vintage cloth rice bag hung from barbed wire. Liberty was one of the brands of rice favored by Japanese Americans. Printed on the bag by the manufacturer are the Japanese characters phonetically spelling “liberty”. I found the bag among my grandmother’s belongings. The bag was used to lovingly wrap Japanese silk yarn and items she had crocheted.
Liberty?
2023
vintage cloth rice bag, barbed wire, wood
34 x 24 x 6 inches

Healing Interrupted (2022)
Healing Interrupted is an interactive installation reminiscent of a Zen dry garden filled with rice instead of sand. People are encouraged to rake through the rice with a wooden Zen garden rake. This practice is traditionally thought of as meditative and healing. This meditative state is interrupted as the rice gives way to flooring covered with recent newspaper clippings of Asian hate actions (collage on canvas). Healing and social progress are interrupted by today’s realities. With this work, I connect my other pieces documenting historical acts of discrimination (World War II incarceration of individuals of Japanese ancestry) with continued acts of racism against Asians today.
Healing Interrupted
2022
wood, bricks, canvas, acrylic and house paint, conte crayon, permanent marker, paper, rice, readymade wood Zen garden rake
60 x 108 x 7 inches
This artwork was funded by the Oregon Arts Commission



