Tomie Arai's Page

Profile Information

In your own words, what is your ethnic identity? (for individuals): Asian American

Your Artistic Background/Mission: As a visual artist, my work examines issues of cultural equity. Through the use of family stories, shared memories, and archival photographs, I construct pages of 'living history' that reflect the layered and complex narratives that give meaning to the places we live in. These visual narratives help me to explore the relationship between memory, art and history and provide a personal sense of connection to the world around me.

As a printmaker and a maker of art, I have strong roots in a studio practice, but I am drawn to projects that bring art directly to the community and use social interaction as a medium for both production and investigation. I am interested in an art that is sited and site-specific, local, process-based and public. Over the years, I have designed community based projects that encourage dialogues between artists and people who do not consider themselves to be artists. Working across disciplines, I have also collaborated with writers, architects, historians, curators and community residents to create work that articulates multiple points of view. Public art, prints and installations are ways for me to use the cultural specificity of my experience as an Asian American as a personal space in which to locate broader issues of race and gender; a space in which a glimpse of common ground is made possible.