CV
VISUAL ART
Selected Exhibitions/Commissions
2024
Connecting Cuts, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, CA
Voices of Freedom, Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery, San Ramon, CA
Celebrating Kimono, From Garment to Activism: Unspoken Communication, Japanese American Museum of San Jose, San Jose, CA
2023
Our Legacy of Advocacy, National Nurses United, Moscone Convention Center,
San Francisco, CA
The de Young Open 2023, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Jade Wave Rising: Portraits of Power, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
Spaces of Belonging, Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, CA
2022
Resisters: A Legacy of Movement from the Japanese American Incarceration, Wing Luke Museum, Seattle, WA
Sansei Granddaughters’ Journey: From Remembrance to Resistance, AZ Gallery,
San Bruno, CA
Tanforan Incarceration 1942: Resilience Behind Barbed Wire, San Bruno, CA
Uprooted, K Gallery, Rhythmix Cultural Center, Alameda, CA
2021
Interpreting Día de los Muertos, UNCAPP Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Dhai Akhar: Seeded in Love, Lindsay Dirks Brown Gallery, San Ramon, CA
My American Experience, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA
2020
Dhai Akhar: Seeded in Love, InnerEye Arts Virtual Site
Recovery A.C.T., Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA
Tadaima! A Community Virtual Pilgrimage, Fine Art Gallery Virtual Site
Arts and Humanities 2020 Graduate Exhibition: Cultural Studies, Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, Davis, CA
Reflections on Exile, Root Division Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019
Recognition, National Nurses United Union Headquarters, Oakland, CA
Diaspora Voiced, Rhythmix Cultural Words, Alameda, CA
Shared Footsteps from Exclusion to Injustice, Then They Came for Me, Futures Without Violence, The Presidio San Francisco, CA
2018
(Re)Call Counternarratives, Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery, San Ramon, CA
2017
Artists’ Eyes Art of Incarceration, NJAHS Peace Gallery and MISHistoric Learning Center,
San Francisco,CA
Mygration, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA
Bluets: to fall under a spell, GearBox Gallery, Oakland, CA
Shifting Movements: Art Inspired by the Life & Activism of Yuri Kochiyama (1921-2014), SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
4th Annual Juried Show, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont, CA
2016
All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Then & Now, A Thread that Connects Us, J-Sei Building, Emeryville, CA
Transformation: 25 Years of Asian American Artists, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, CA
United Front Black Liberation & Asian/Pacific Activism, Asian Resource Gallery, Oakland, CA
2015
Group Exhibition, Collector Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2014
Solo Exhibition, Michaelangelo Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
Group Exhibition, Colorida Galeria de Arte e Design, Lisbon, Portugal
2012
GaNADa, Dohee Lee, Asian Improv aRts and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center,
Stage Installation
Design and Fabrication, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
2009 ~ 2012
When Dreams are Interrupted, Purple Moon Dance Project Collaboration, Site Specific Set Design and Installation, Berkeley, San Francisco, Lodi, Tule Lake Concentration Camp, Fresno and Sacramento, CA
2011
Time Cocoon, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, Costume Design and Artistic Consultant, ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
Atlacualo, Jose Navarrete and Violeta Luna, Costume Designer/Consultant, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2009
When Dreams are Interrupted, Purple Moon Dance Project Collaboration, Site Specific Set Design and Installation, Berkeley, CA
2005
Ghosts of Little Boy, Artists for Peace, National Japanese American Historical Society Peace Gallery, San Francisco, CA
TransMissions, origins, re/generations & community, Zeum Theatre/Yerba Buena Gardens,
San Francisco, CA
2004
Issho/Together: Japanese American/Japanese National Artists in America 1941 – Present, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000
Nikkei 2000 Art Exhibition, Japanese Peace Plaza, San Francisco, CA
1999
Art is Figurative – A Juried Competition, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Resilient Images: Reflections of Internment, National Japanese American Historical Society Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998
Pro Arts Juried Annual Exhibition, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA Asian Pacific American Artists Today, Laney College Library, Oakland, CA
1997
Ancient Lessons, New Life, Cafe Vox Populi, La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, CA
Art Against the Death Penalty, New College of California, San Francisco, CA
1996
HeartWork, Creating Something Together, Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
Richmond Art Center Exhibition, Berlex Laboratories Inc. and the Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1995
Latent August, The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, National Japanese American Historical Society, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
BACA 11th Annual Juried National, Berkeley Art Center Exhibition 1995, Berkeley, CA
West Coast Works On/Of Paper Exhibition, The Ink People Center for the Arts, Eureka, CA
1994
The Alphabet Show, Okeanos Press Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Stop the Violence, Center for the Visual Arts, Oakland, CA
New World Border, Undocumented Art/Inalienable Rights, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
Yellow Forest, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993
Asian Roots/Western Soil: Japanese Influences in American Culture, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley CA
63rd Annual Statewide Exhibition, Santa Cruz Art League, Santa Cruz, CA
Object As Identity, 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA
World of Difference - Art, Tourism and Cultural Dialogues, Euphrat Gallery, Cupertino, CA
1992
Executive Order 9066 - 50 Years Later, San Jose Art League Gallery, San Jose, CA
Rediscoveries: The Myth Makers, Jamaica Art Center, Jamaica, NY
Four Directions: Women Honor Native Land, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
Ancestors and Experience, Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA
500 Years of Resistance Through Women's Eyes, Mission Cultural Center Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
Subtle Exchange, 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA
1991
Spirit of East and West, Berkeley Store Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Our History, Our Rituals, Bayview Operahouse, San Francisco, CA and Intercultural Gallery, Sonoma, CA
State University, Rohnert Park, CA
1990
Layers, Japan Cultural Center Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Pacific Bell Scholarship Winners Exhibition, Artisans Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
Divine Line, Arizona Commission on the Arts Traveling Exhibition, Mesa, AZ
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2021
Alameda County Arts Commission’s Artist Registry
2017
Second Place Award, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont, CA
2015
Arquetopia Synergy Award 2015, Oaxaca, Mexico
Arquetopia Artist Residency, Oaxaca, Mexico
2014
Arquetopia Artist Residency, Oaxaca, Mexico
2007
Gaea Foundation: Sea Change Residency, Provincetown, MA
DreamSpeakers Award, Purple Moon Dance Project, San Francisco, CA
1993
Honorable Mention Award
63rd Annual Statewide Exhibition, Santa Cruz Art League, Santa Cruz, CA
1989
Pacific Bell Scholarship Grant, Artisans, Mill Valley, CA
Honorable Mention Award, Fine Art Exhibition, San Rafael, CA
Juror's Award, Galeria Mesa Exhibition, Mesa, AZ
1988
Purchase Award, West Coast Fiber Exhibition, Eureka, CA
PROJECTS and COLLABORATIONS
2018-present
Elders Project performance collaborations with Destiny Arts Youth Performance
Company, Destiny Arts Center, Oakland, CA
2017- 2019
Sansei Granddaughters’ Journey – documentary based on pilgrimage to Manzanar concentration camp, Manzanar, CA - collaboration with Shari Arai DeBoer, Reiko Fujii, Kathy Fujii-Oka, and Na Omi Judy Shintani
2005
Tsukimi Kai Delegation to Cuba - Cultural Arts Exchange/Oral History Project –– Taiko performer and Musical Coordinator
1994-2010
Escuela Primaria Netzahualcóyotl, Bilingual School for Indigenous Children,
Zihuatanejo, Mexico – Volunteer Teacher
1991
NICCA Construction Project in Matagalpa, Nicaragua – Volunteer Staff
EDUCATION and TRAINING
Bachelor of Science Degree, University of Oregon, Eugene 1972
Pacific Basin School of Textile Arts, Berkeley, CA 1984-86
Individual folk art research – Chimaltenango, Guatemala 1973, Lima, Peru 1985, Michoacan, Mexico 1990
TAIKO PERFORMANCE ART
Training
1974
Japanese taiko drum training, Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, Founder of San Francisco Taiko Dojo, San Francisco, CA
Past and Present Affiliations
2009 – 2012
Artistic Consultant, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, taiko drumming performance ensemble
1999 – 2009
Managing Director, Co-Founding Member and Performer, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble
1997 – 2007
Founding Member and Performer, Drumfire, taiko and Native American drumming performance ensemble
1994 - 1996
Performer, Tampat: A Sacred Place, taiko and Native American drumming performance ensemble
1992 – 1994
Founding Member and Performer, Foreign Bodies Theater Company, taiko drumming, performance and spoken word company
1974 - 1985
Original Performing Member, San Jose Taiko, taiko performance company
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
2012
A Joining of Rivers, Drumming and spoken word collaboration, Asian American Women Artists
Association Literary & Performing Art Series, curated by Nancy Hom, International Museum of Women, San Francisco, CA
2007
Oakland Has Spoken II, Performance with Drumfire, Scottish Rites Center, Oakland, CA
2006
Mahina, Drumming and dance collaboration with Jill Guillermo-Togawa, Purple Moon Dance Project 15th Anniversary Season, Zeum Theater, San Francisco, CA
2005
Tsukimi Kai – Delegation to Cuba, Performances in Havana, Cienfuegos and Isla de la Juventud, Cuba
Selected Performances and Tours with Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble
2009
TEN – 10th Anniversary Concert, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, Mountain View Center for the
Performing Arts, Mountain View, CA
2007
Japan Tour, University of Kanazawa, Kanazawa City and Wajima City, Japan
SYTE/ON: Taiko X2, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Cerritos, CA
2006
Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Southwest Tour ‘06: Las Cruces, Silver City, Alamogordo, Socorro and Tucumcari, NM
Pacific Northwest Tour ‘06: Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, ID and Eugene, OR
2004
Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College Center for the Arts, Torrance, CA
Skywalker Studios, Lucas Ranch, Nicasio, CA
Chains of Color, Collaboration with Robert Moses’ Kin, SomArts Cultural Center,
San Francisco, CA
2003
Southwest Tour ’03: Valencia and Whittier, CA and Taos, Raton, Albuquerque, Farmington, NM
Ovation Series, Collaboration with Dance Brigade, Popejoy Hall, Center for the Performing Arts, Albuquerque, NM
Pacific Northwest Tour ’03: Eugene, OR, Seattle and Tacoma, WA
Satsuki Arts Festival, Collaboration with Kenny Endo, Berkeley Jewish Community Center Theater, Berkeley, CA
2002
Disneyland Performances, Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
Také 5, Collaboration with Masayuki Koga, Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco, CA
Skin to String, Skin to Wind, Collaboration with Van-Ahn Vo and Unity Nguyen, SomArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
2001
PoMo Arts Festival, Collaboration with Kularts, Yerba Buena Center Forum, San Francisco, CA
The Nature of Nature, Collaboration with Facing East Dance and Music, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland, CA
2000
Robert Moses’ Kin, Fifth Anniversary Home Season Concert, Collaboration with Robert Moses, Sara Shelton Mann, Kelly Tacunda Orphan, Marcus Shelby, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, CA
Monk at the Met, Collaboration with Sara Shelton Mann, Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco