For Seattle-based artist Akio Takamori, art can portray the contrast between cultures within a society of diversity.
On Wednesday, Takamori came to visit Cal State University Long Beach to deliver a presentation about his work sculpting clay figurines.
Takamori said he began to incorporate his own history into the clay figures that he makes.
“When I first came to America, I felt kind of displaced…on campus I was the only Asian student,” Takamori said. “And I started to kind of look into my own identity… so that was my first step at bringing the idea into my artwork.”
His work consists of carefully crafted ceramic sculptures, which have been modeled based on the memories he carries from his childhood in Japan and his times adapting to western culture.
The subjects he creates include shopkeepers, school children, villagers and infants. Each clay sculpture is eventually placed together to form a community and create a scene frozen in time.
During his lecture in the University Theater, he presented many examples of his work via slideshow. The theme of many of these was a comparison between western and eastern cultures; the comparison was executed by standing traditional Japanese painted statues and American painted statues side by side or huddled together around a focal point within the scene.
After the presentation, students had an opportunity to ask questions; one student wondered if Takamori had ever thought about going back to Japan.
“I’m thinking now that I should; I’m thinking about taking up residency in Japan,” Takamori said. “I’ve also given some thought to how my art might be perceived differently… and how the content might change [if I went back].”
Students reflected on his art after the presentation, which spoke volumes to attendees who have been in similar situations.
“I thought it was interesting,” said Ivan Gonzalez a student at CSULB. “I wasn’t born here either, so I kind of know how it is, I can kind of relate.”
Halfway through the presentation, Takamori began to show pieces of work that broke away from the strictly Japanese-American contrasts and expanded into other cultures as well.
One of these pieces showed Africans, Hispanics, Europeans and Asians all walking together as they immigrated into the United States.
“People [are] kind of nomadic. They came from Africa and split everywhere. So, I guess I kind of think that people always have had this sense of unsettlement or alienation,” Takamori said. “So that uncomfortableness of being in a new place, that’s something I really bring into my work.”
