Furusato 古里 Homeland

Furusato (meaning homeland in Japanese) is an exhibition that expresses my Japanese American identity—being a steward of the land I inhabit in the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised with Japanese immigrant parents in the NW, I’ve struggled to find home and a sense of belonging. Upon my return from living abroad, I realized that the Northwest is my home; especially when hiking mountains and coastlines and gardening edible, medicinal and ornamental plants. Nature heals, cares for, and teaches us if we observe and return the deed.

Furusato is a series of quilts using Japanese washi paper with relief and monotype prints of NW native flora and landscapes. The show includes four community quilts sewn together with prints by workshop participants from the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, the Tacoma Public Library, and the Science and Math Institute (SAMi High School). Quilts have historically united communities, and creating this body of work brought us together with the natural world, reflecting on identity, belonging, and collective support.

I learned natural dyeing processes to color washi at Wild Dreams Farm & Seed on Vashon Island. They grow all plants from seed that make various pigments, and our collaboration further enhanced this connection with the land. This project honors the Indigenous individuals who helped interned Japanese Americans during WWII maintain and rebuild farms upon their return to the land. Furusato acknowledges homeland, and the mutual generosity between these two communities that are bonded by empathy for loss of their land and homes. We mend our wounds, stitch by stitch, as stewards of nature and makers of art.

Funded in part by the Tacoma Artists Initiative Program from the Tacoma Arts Commission.