Canadian Nikkei Artist

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Prior to 1995, Norman admits that he had little contact with the JC community: “My focus was on the local (Ottawa) art community and producing my own work and there appeared to be no one from the JC community who was part of this.”

He designed the 1977 poster for the JC Centennial based on Arthur Irizawa’s Centennial logo as the main image in the poster.” His first and only trip to Japan was in 1969-1970 to work on the Canadian Pavilion for Expo 70 in Osaka.

“The main impression I was left with was that it’s …

“Trying to figure out what it means to be Japanese Canadian is messy work. To sum it up: to me, being JC means feeling conflicted. After all these years of being who I am, I still seem to have to convince myself that I’m Canadian. I’m very aware that no matter where I go, whether it’s to restaurants, art galleries, or the curling rink, I look different from everyone around me.

“The prevalence of racism and the reflections in the mirror reminds me that I’m not white and therefore am questionable. Luckily, there are many fine people, and I know …

“My true understanding of art began when I met Koko at the Vancouver School of Art so many years ago. By listening to what she had to say and watching her work, I learned that making art meant going beyond the obvious and searching for something more, and I’ve tried to stay on this path ever since. Amazingly, after all these years, her total dedication to dancing and to making beautiful art has remained undiminished, and has been an inspiration. Sharing work and staying connected is something I treasure.”

—Ottawa artist and friend Norman K. Takeuchi, whose Long Division show …

“Ever since we both attended the Vancouver School of Art back in the 1950s, I have always respected Norman. He is a creative, seriously dedicated, focused, hard-working and disciplined artist. His work, with many references to two cultures, is constantly changing and growing. It is wonderful that we are both still painting and showing our work in our mid-80s…. We were so young!”

—Artist Tsuneko Kokubo (Silverton, BC) whose own Of Light Itself: RetroPERSPECTIVE is now showing at the Langham Gallery, Kaslo, BC

Sansei Ottawa artist Norman Kiyomitsu Takeuchi speaks about the complexities of being Japanese Canadian today through the …

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Life After Internment in Edmonton

“At age 14, I had no ambitions but once I left the internment camp, I had the good fortune to live in the Misericordia Hospital, as did my sister. We were relief elevator operators for which the nuns provided us with room and board for working on weekends. We were enrolled into Garneau high school, which was across High Level Bridge, a 2 km walk or 10 minutes, by streetcar. Another classmate and I walked daily across the bridge except in winter when in a blizzard the temperature could reach 20 …