I am an immigrant. There are a lot of personal reasons why I left my country, but one of them was that I couldn’t bear the oppressed culture of old Japan. The discriminations against women were everywhere. The gender gap score of Japan is still 120th out of 156 countries. It’s an unfathomable number for a “developed” country. It looks as if nothing has changed in 30 years since I left there. My father transferred a lot, and we moved every 1-3 years without my consent. I felt my life was always rootless. When I came to live in America, I thought I finally made my choice of where to live, but I still feel like I've just escaped from Japan.

 

Perhaps because of my experiences, every time I heard the news of refugees, my heart ached so much. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be displaced, without knowing where to go with the constant fear of death. When I saw strong summer sun reflections hitting on the East River, I couldn’t stop thinking of the experience of these people who were sitting like sardines in a can and floating around on the boat with an orange life jacket. I saw the photos of the procession of people carrying bags and children. Where were they going, and where did they end up? Even if they arrived in a new country, they may not be able to have what they used to have - maybe they lost families, their properties, status, and language...all sort of things.

 

In 2016, I started collecting photos and articles of people who had been displaced from their place due to politics, war, religion, and various other reasons, and I started drawing/painting them. I’ve been questioning myself constantly - what is this for? Volunteering and fundraising would be much more beneficial than painting. Also, I thought it would be awkward for me, who knows nothing, to portray suffering beyond my imagination. I could not help drawing to pray for the souls of those who were alive and those who lost their lives. This is my prayer for everything to be purified and return to white. It’s been taking a long time to paint this series and does my journey ever end? I just have to pray for peace.