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!

"



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.

Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI) Day of Remembrance on YouTube

Dr. Donald Teruo Hata and I spoke at the 70th Anniversary of the Day of Remembrance at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute on February 26, 2012.  Excerpts of Mary's artist talk and Don's book talk can be seen by clicking here.

"Suppression of Evidence" Garners Top Award at International Society of Acrylic Painters

I received Best of Show and First Place at the July 14, 2012 reception for the 15th Annual ISAP International Open Exhibition in Paso Robles, CA.  "Executive Order 9066, Series 10:  Suppression of
Evidence" is a painting of the mass incarceration of Americans of Japanese Ancestry from the Pacific Coast during World War II.

 

At the entry to the Interpretive Center at Manzanar National Historic Site, there is a quote by syndicated columnist Henry McLemore:  "Herd 'em up, pack 'em off and give 'em the inside badlands... Personally, I hate the Japanese."

Those words replayed in my head as I pictured Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly in Arizona.  An Indian guide said that long ago, parents told their children that, if you are bad, you will be sent to the top of that rock.  So, I painted Spider Rock and placed the concentration camps for Japanese Americans on top, replete wth guard towers, barracks, and barbed wire.  I wrote McLemore's quote on the  left, and on the right side, I included part of Executive Order 9066.

I thought I had finished the painting until I read the L.A. Times on May 25, 2011.  On the front page, it said that the wartime U.S. Solicitor General had suppressed the fact that U.S. Intelligence services had determined that we were not a security threat, which in turn meant it was not necessary to imprison Japanese Americans in concentration camps. I was outraged, and I went back to my painting and wrote "Suppression of Evidence" and the summary of the Times articles and my reaction.  That finally completed my painting.

"E.O. 9066, Series 8" is included in the "The Artistic Touch 5" by Christine M. Unwin.  "E.O. 90066, Series 4"  is in "The Artistic Touch 4."  The books retail for $35, but can be ordered from Mary at the discounted price of $20 for TAT5 and $15 for TAT4. The quoted prices include postage, packaging and handling.

30th Annual International Exhibition, San Diego Watercolor Society - Linda Doll Seminar Group Cash Award

"Executive Order 9066, Series 8" was recognized in the 30th Annual International Exhibition of the San Diego Watercolor Society in 2010. The mixed media work depicts one of the favorite pastimes of Japanese American children who were incarcerated at concentration camps across the United States during WWII. Marbles and other portable games such as jacks were among the only toys that young prisoners were able to carry to the camps.

E Pluribus Unum

E Pluribus Unum, Series 1: Cultural Diversity at CSUDH. Watercolor, image 30" X 22"

E Pluriibus Unum, Series 2: 50th Anniversary of CSUDH Mixed media, image 30" X 22"

E Pluribus Unum was unveiled May 12, 2010 at CSU Dominguez Hills in celebration of the university's 50th Anniversary. L-R: Mary Higuchi and President Mildred Garcia. Photo by Gary Kuwahara

E Pluribus Unum, Series 3: Reaching Consensus. Watercolor, image 22" X 30"

To purchase artwork or for more information, contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com

Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066, Series 1. Mixed media, image 15" X 11"

Executive Order 9066, Series 2. Mixed media, image 30" X 22

Executive Order 9066, Series 3. Mixed media, image 30" X 22"

Executive Order 9066, Series 4. Watercolor, image 30" X 22"

Executive Order 9066, Series 5. Watercolor, image 30" X 22"

Executive Order 9066, Series 6. Mixed media, image 30" X 22"

Executive Order 9066, Series 7: RecessTime. Watercolor, image 22" x 30"

ExecutiveOrder9066, series 8 .Acrylic,image 22" X 30"

Executive Order 9066, Series 9. Acrylic, image 30" X 22"

Executive Order 9066, Series 10:  I Am An American.Acrylic, image 30" X 22"

Executive Order 9066, Series 11: Suppression of Evidence. Acrylic, image 30" x 22"

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