Canadian Nikkei Artist

I first met artist and professor Henry Tsang back in 2019 at the Powell Street Festival, where he was conducting 360 Riot Walk(ing) tours in the Paueru Gai/Nihonmachi area of Vancouver using iPads and images along the route that white rioters followed in a racist rampage through the Chinatown and Powell Street areas in 1907.

The tour is described as follows: “The Anti-Asian Riots were one of the most significant events in the history of Vancouver. 360 Riot Walk is an audio-visual experience that traces the history and route of the mob that attacked both the Chinese Canadian and …

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If you were to design a mask for yourself for these times, what might it look like?

My favourite recent mask that has come out of the pandemic is a “Woven” mask. I cut up two self-portrait masks and wove the pieces together. Because they don’t fit exactly together, there are pieces of extra eyes and lips which gives a “glitchy” look to it. The interlaced pieces can be seen in terms of mixed race identity or different aspects of our persona woven together. The best part about this mask is that it falls apart when …

“The artist is meant to put the objects of this world together in such a way that through them you will experience that light, that radiance which is the light of our consciousness and which all things both hide and, when properly looked upon, reveal.”

—Teacher, translator and author, from The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)  

By now, we all understand what it is to be the face behind the mask, don’t we?

Reflecting on this and on doing some research about masks, one other quote really stood out for me. It is from Quebec writer …

“Over the years, my paintings have explored my Japanese Canadian identity. While earlier works reflected feelings of ambivalence and discomfort with my ethnicity, passing time has slowly shaped my feelings into those of acceptance and a certain amount of pride.… The works in Equal Time, produced between 2018 and 2020, continue the exploration of the Japanese Canadian.”

— Norman Takeuchi, from the new exhibition catalogue (Studio Sixty Six Contemporary Art Gallery)

On November 23, Nisei Norman Takeuchi launched an exhibition of Japanese Canadian World War Two internment themed art that was two years in the making.

The important new …

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Lillian, who is Yukiko? In a nutshell, what is the story of Yukiko?

Lillian: Jeff and I talked a lot about Emma’s Japanese middle name. We decided on Yukiko, Jeff’s young daughter’s name. In the years to come, I think his little girl will be extremely proud of what her father had accomplished in naming the heroine after her.

From your personal experience, how well is the JC story known today in BC? In Ontario?

Lillian: The Japanese Canadian story was relatively unknown in Ontario. The ROM exhibition On Being Japanese Canadian: reflections on a broken …