Colors of Fall Arrives in a new book...

Surviving Minidoka:  The Legacy of WWII Japanese American Incarceration edited by Russell M. Tremayne, historian at the College of Southern Idaho and Todd Shallat, director of the Center for Idaho History and Politics at Boise State has arrived.  It's a beautiful hardcover book of poetry, original art, and historical rare prints.  Included in the book are seven of my original paintings.  I am pleased with the book and feel honored to have my artwork as part of this history book.

This 200 page book can be ordered online through the Boise State University Publications or you can contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com.

INCREDIBLY BUSY SUMMER, BUT VERY PRODUCTIVE...

This summer I completed 3 paintings. Two of them were inspired by photographs I took at the 2012 Tule Lake Pilgrimage.

                                     Executive Order 9066, Series 17.  Desecrated Cemetery
                                                  Watercolor on paper.  Image 22"x30"

 

 A memorial service was held at the Tule Lake Cemetery. As the Pilgrimage participants honored the people who were incarcerated and died at Tule Lake during World War II, I felt their emotions as they viewed what is now a desecrated cemetery, bulldozed over, creating a pit at the site.

 

    Executive Order 9066, Series 18. What Lies Ahead?                  Watercolor on paper, Image 30"x22"
                    

I took a photo of an elderly man, carrying the suitcase that he had taken when forcibly removed from his home in 1942.   He brought it to the Pilgrimage and as he sat there, I envisioned a younger man, waiting to be taken to some unknown place. Many questions filled the minds of the prisoners, as they wondered nervously, "what lies ahead?"                                                    

 

Executive Order 9066. Series 19.  Manzanar Guard Tower    
Acrylic on paper, Image 22"x30
             

This painting was created for the 16th Annual Henry Fukuhara Manzanar Paintout. As I looked through the legs of the guard tower, I was intrigued by the shadow of the tall, strong, bold structure looming in front of me. Peeking through the legs, I envisioned the concentration camp-- hundreds of barracks surrounded by barbed wire, parts of it coiled and twisted.




To order paintings, posters, cards, giclees or for more information, please contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Executive Order 9066, Series 13.  Tule Lake

  Mixed media with collage, 20"x18" 

 

Series 13 is a painting of the notorious Tule Lake stockade.  I have participated in two of the Tule Lake Pilgrimages.  They have been one of the best organized, drawing over 400 participants, with interesting programs and breakout sessions, starting early in the morning and late into the night.  My painting captures the injustice and harshness the incarcerees suffered during their imprisonment.  The story of Tule Lake is complex.




                                             Executive Order 9055, Series 14.  Minidoka

Mixed Media with collage, 18" x 24"
 

Minidoka is a painting of how I remembered the site after my participation in the 2010 Pilgrimage.  The foreground shows railroad ties, behind that, the sentry post, then the rock garden, barracks and lastly, the canal.



                                   Executive Order 9066, Series 15.  Minidoka Rock Garden
                                                 Mixed media with collage, 18" x 24"

The rock garden at Minidoka is a stolid place with huge rocks placed strategically that poetically projects feelings of solidarity, strength, and peace.

                                                  Executive Order 9066, Series 16.  Topaz
                                                     Mixed media with collage, 14" x 18"

 

Topaz is a place of special meaning for me.  We went to visit it on our way driving home from Minidoka.  To our good fortune, when we went to the Topaz visitor center, we met Jane Beckwith, who is guiding Topaz in its struggle to become a historic site.  She took us out to the original camp ground, which we would have never found on our own.  No barracks, no guard towers, but acres and acres of desolate dry land with remnants of the past strewn all over.  My collage shows, symbolically, the nails, rock garden relics, barbed wire, appliance and furniture parts and the cracked, parched soil.  As I looked at the landscape, I felt the presence of the dark past in unbearable heat.


To order or for more information, please contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com.