Japanese American artist Roger Shimomura’s art exhibit, titled An American Knockoff, is presented at the Tacoma Art Museum(and will run until September 13).
According to KUOW, Shimomura struggled against stereotypes of the Japanese American community, feeling a lingering sense of being “less” than other Americans. Shimomura (partially, at least) accounts these feelings as being caused by his incarceration experience during World War 2.
“You know how you draw family portraits? I would draw my mother, my father, my sister and I. And I would draw my mother with blond hair and blue eyes,” Shimomura recalls.
To Shimomura, his work is a response to those who see Asian Americans as being “fraudulent or fake” Americans.
To see some of Shimomura’s work and learn more about the exhibit, visit KUOW.