As human beings we all have the same needs so why can't we see each other that way, as humans first? What is proven each day is that it is all too easy to see each other as labels like race, religion, gender, political parties, sexual orientation, as classes different from our own whether that means someone who is more rich or more poor, or better or less educated than ourselves.

Why is it so easy to judge & see people who are different than ourselves as inferior or less than?

In particular the fear of people of different races is one I know too well as my maternal family was interned during WWII for almost three years at Heart Mountain, WY. Since 9/11/2001 when people have told me, or I hear people say that we should "round up people from the Middle East and put them in a camp in the desert" I speak out because it was that same fear that stripped my family of their freedom. I'm using my art to communicate their story through paper, instead of words.

Titled "Acceptance" this collection of three mobiles shares a story in three parts: Injustice, Healing, and Love. How my family, and many others, overcame the injustice of the Japanese American internment.

The photo behind barbed wire is my maternal family held in Heart Mountain, WY during WWII. The lady in the front center row is my grandma who taught me origami as a child. The little girl standing beside her is my mom.

Of the 1000 miniature cranes half measure 3/4” high and the other 500 are smaller ranging from 1/4” to 1/2” high to represent that of the 120,000 people imprisoned half were children. The color yellow represents the way others saw them, not as individuals, but as nothing more than the color of their skin.

For me, the challenge wasn't folding three thousand miniature origami cranes, the hard part was how to share my family history in a way that would leave the viewer uplifted and not sad or angry. 

The second. blue and gold mobile represents kintsugi, a Japanese way of mending broken pottery with real gold dust mixed with lacquer or resin that leaves it more beautiful and interesting than before it was broken. An amazing metaphor for people, that we have the same opportunity to heal from trauma and loss in a way that can make us more beautiful and interesting too. 

The third mobile is titled "Filled with Love." Each tiny crane contains a tiny paper heart and symbolizes that my family came away from this dark period of history holding no grudges and bearing no prejudices of their own against those who interned them. They chose love over hate which not only spared me from being taught to be racist as a young child, but has always inspired me to always do the same and never be prejudiced against any one group for the actions of some.

The cranes range in height from 1/4" to 3/4" in height and are folded from various origami papers and plastics.