The capacity of artists to utilize their craft to address various social issues is one of their most impressive qualities. They may use these platforms to share their deepest thoughts, feelings, and ideas about a given subject, with themes ranging from science to social issues. A great artist's well-executed work of art has the capacity to convey a variety of ideas to its target audience. Roger Shimomura is an instance of a master artist. Roger Shimomura is an American artist and a retired professor who is known for his works addressing various themes such as traditional Asian tropes, racial imagery, and stereotypes as well as the American popular culture to address the various issues in the society (Selwyn 267).
The present paper explores how Roger Shimomura depicts racial stereotypes in some of his popular pieces of art. The discussion also entails how some of the personal experiences have shaped the works of the distinguished artist and scholar.
Roger Shimomura: Background and Influence on his Work
Roger Shimomura is one of the most distinguished contemporary artists in America. Shimomura's grandparents migrated into America. in the early 1900s from Japan. Roger would be born in on June 26, 1939, to a pharmacist father and a homemaker mother in Seattle, Washington (Selwyn 269). Following the implementation of the Executive Order 9066, Roger’s family was forced to enter a prison camp after his father was forced to quit his job. It is observed that most of the work of the artist is based on his life experiences in the camp. Conditions in the camp following mass incarcerations were tough as observed in the death of Roger’s sister, Carolyn who died of meningitis at the age of two. Carolyn was born in the camp. According to Hallmark (p.191), Shimomura describes the conditions at the camp as with severe weather, dust storms, and ice winters.
Normal life resumed after the war as the family left the incarceration camps and returned to their home in Seattle with the father resuming a pharmacy job. Shimomura would attend a highly diverse Garfield High School where he explains that students form small social groups in which individuals were identified based on their social or racial backgrounds. It is probably the experiences in the camp and racial dynamics in schools that inspired most of his works on racial imagery and stereotypes to work.
Shimomura’s ‘dairy’ series is an expansion of his artistic personal experience as somebody who was interned in a World War II prison camp. The series is taken from the personal diary of his grandmother, Toku Shimomura. Toku Shimomura was one of the most respected midwives in Seattle having helped to deliver more than 1000 babies including Shimomura. Shimomura thus combines cartoon imagery with the pop art to depict the entries from the diary that was kept and maintained by his beloved grandmother Toku. Having stumbled upon a collection of memorabilia Shimomura was inspired to investigate their lives as immigrants (Hallmark 191).
The inclusion of the Superman in most of his work can be attributed to 1940s and 1950s culture in which comic books and cartoons were in their heyday. It can also be noted that Shimomura was an avid reader of comic books. The iconic Superman is normally presented as the non-threatening hero of the American pop culture. However in the painting Diary: December 12, 1941, the Superman is depicted as a menacing shadowy figure lurking in the backgrounds of Toku’s house. The painting is said to depict the American action towards the immigrants by imposing mass incarceration and internment while pretending to be nice by allowing the people to withdraw $100 from banks for their sustenance. The issues presented in the canvas can thus be noted as serious issues of assimilation, racism, and race as well as the complexities that are involved in the racial engagement. Another series in which Shimomura uses pop art to depict the life in the internment camp is the Minidoka. In the works that were completed between 1978 and 1978 is an indication of the flat style of ukiyo-e and pop art. Ukiyo-e is a Japanese art style that is aimed at depicting the normal and daily lives of individuals around the world.
Racial Stereotypes and Imagery Theme in Shimomura Works
Racial stereotypes can be seen as exaggerated and automatic mental picture, perceptions and beliefs about another individual from a particular race (Goodyear 71). In the American culture, there are many racial imagery regards and assumptions about people regarding their racial backgrounds. While in some cases stereotypes are used for oppression and justification for social ills such as mass incarceration of a particular race, some instances of stereotypes can be used to create good humor and jokes. For instance, the assumption that all Asians are genius may be used to create some light moments in multicultural societies. The explained stereotypes can be seen in helping to generalize things so as to make sense of complex situations.
Identity is noted to be at the center of Shimomura’s works since 1969 after he moved to Lawrence Kansas to teach in the department of art at the University of Kansas. At the University, Shimomura had encounters with the people who had never seen any American Asian. Such people found it hard to believe that there were other who were born and raised and were different in color. Shimomura, therefore, made most of his first paintings to juxtapose Asian themes while incorporating American popular culture to demonstrate the various cultural and racial stereotypes (Desai, Hamlin and Mattson 124). Most of his works are self-portraits but not in the conventional sense. The artist for instance, in one of his most popular works, is noted to have put himself on a boat with George Washington as they cross the Delaware River. The impact of the painting is the sense it seeks to show that even the most greatest American can associate with an individual from another racial background at a personal level. In another piece (“An American in Disguise”) Shimomura rips open his Kimono to reveal the Superman outfit. Kimono is traditionally associated with the Japanese culture while the Superman outfit is an essential element of the American popular culture. “An American in Disguise” is the painting in which the artist attempts to prove that even somebody who is ethnically different can become a native of America (Goodyear 72). He attempts to dispel the assumption that people from other races other than white cannot have a place in the modern American society due to their distinct social background. The artist’s attempt to smash racial stereotypes is further noted in the sense that he includes his own face in a kaleidoscope of Chinese soldiers in one of his paintings. The artist can thus be noted to attempt to support the views of other artists and authors that the people define America and not America defining identities.
Even though there have been recent efforts to end racism, Shimomura believed that there are still that prejudice could still exist even in the most subliminal levels and therefore continued to use art to address such prejudices. Even though he doesn’t expect to change the opinions and the attitudes of the people towards their deeply ingrained perceptions of racial and social roles, he is however not discouraged by the expected insignificance of his actions. In an interview with the KUOW-FM Radio station, Shimomura declares his hopes that his works would to some change in the sense that the message that he is trying to communicate will be received by the intended audiences. Sillman writes “But if you can plant something in their mind to take with them, you’ve really done something,” he says.
Further, attempts to depict racism in his art can also be noted in the sense that most of his works are visually arresting to portray some of the racial differences in the American multicultural community. In his later works, the artist is noted to apply more open challenges to encounter the racist undertone in the American society. In his 2012 painting called "Not Pearl Harbor,", Roger combines the racial stereotypes encountered in the post-September period to the stereotypes that were encountered just before the Pearl Harbor. "Not Pearl Harbor," depicts Japanese caricatures wearing turbans with the facial hair resembling the style that is associated with the Taliban. Another Shimomura’s work that attempts to address the racial stereotypes is the American Knockoff that was produced between the years 2006 and 2013. The American Knockoff is the work in which Shimomura argues that people tend to judge the Asians based on their physical appearances (Goodyear 71). The American Knockoff also indicates Roger Shimomura to be inserting himself as an aging Asian in various guises leading to funny and poignant themes. He inserts himself as an imposter against the various contradictory stereotypical settings. The painting collections can thus be seen to portray Shimomura as assuming iconic American such as Dick Tracy, George Washington, and others as well as joining the Chinese army brigade.
Conclusion
Roger Shimomura is definitely one of American greatest artists. His works can be seen to present the various social-political themes that are affecting Americans of Japanese origin as well as other immigrants who consider America as their native land despite having different ethnic backgrounds. It can also be noted that the style that Roger applies in his works entails traditions of Japanese woodblock prints; his interests in comic books and cartoons with a combination of American popular culture. The use of a combination of different styles to present artistic works relates to the theoretical knowledge gained in class about artistic processes. The fact that Roger Shimomura applies art to express the Japanese experiences in the incarceration camps as well as the racial prejudice that has persisted in the American society can be observed to be related to the fact that art students are always encouraged to use their skills to express experiences, emotions and using art to condemn various social ills and injustices.
Works Cited
Desai, Dipti, Jessica Hamlin, and Rachel Mattson. History as Image, Image as History: Contemporary Art and Social Studies Education. Routledge, 2009.
Goodyear, Anne Collins. "Roger Shimomura: An American Artist." American Art 27.1 (2013): 70-93. Selwyn, Doug. "Why inquiry." The social studies curriculum: Purposes, problems, and possibilities (2014): 267-288.
Hallmark, Kara Kelley. Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.
Sillman, Marcie. "Roger Shimomura Smashes Stereotypes With Art". Kuow.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2017.
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