Celebrating One of Our Own

It is my pleasure to celebrate one of our own in the neighbourhood, Mizu Sugimura, resident of Federal Way whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S.A. over one hundred years ago. Our neighbour was gone for a while, doing a bit of globe-trotting with her husband (which I do hope she’ll write about) and then catching-up with life in general on her return. We’ve all missed her…and her writing.

In her postings, Mizu shared a lot with us…about the neighbourhood, about history (both painful and uplifting) her own life and self-understanding. Who could forget the delicious photo of her as a little girl in her yellow tutu, ready for the dance recital…or the incredible story of Yamada Waka she told. What our fellow Blogonia has not shared with us is that she is an Artist of distinction.

It is my honour to announce that one of Ms. Sugimura’s Art Collages has been accepted into a juried art show, to be featured at this year’s Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup!

Omedeto…congratulations Mizu, neighbour and friend!

Ms. Sugimura credits her mother for Art being a major constant in her life. Mizu’s mother (born and raised in California) studied fashion design and took some classes at Chicago’s Art Institute, after leaving the WWII camps. She drew a set or two of professional quality paper dolls for her daughter but refused to draw any more replacements when the dolls became worn.

“ She basically provided an opportunity by telling me, if I really wanted more paper dolls I was going to have to learn how to draw them myself,” said Sugimura

In this way, as Joseph Campbell would have said, she eventually found her bliss.

An illustration of a chicken (created with torn coloured construction paper) done at age five could very well have been Sugimura’s first collage. Her mother saved it, giving it back to her daughter just a few years ago, when downsizing for a move. Mizu used a photocopy of the piece in a souvenir fan project she made to give her invited guests during the opening night of the Arts Alive Juried Show in 2005. The event was held at Federal Way’s City Hall and sponsored by the Federal Way Arts Commission. As Mizu said, “It was a fun way to thank friends and acquaintances who had encouraged me in years past.”

Sugimura's first collage, age 5

Souvenir Fan, 2005 Arts Alive Show

Though her heart was an artist’s, she made the more practical choice of journalism as a college major, married after graduating and went to work, to help support them while her husband was still in school. At age 25 she bought her first set of acrylics and began to paint at the kitchen table.

One weekend Sugimura took her son to a parent/child workshop at Wing Luke Asian Museum, featuring Filipino artist Romson Bustillo, and was reintroduced to collage. Bustillo recommended she should keep on doing them, to see where they led.

Where have they led?

Over the last eight years, Sugimura has placed collages in several local juried shows, including the 1999 Arts Together Gallery Show at Tacoma Public Library’s Handforth Gallery; Arts Alive Juried Shows sponsored by the City of Federal Way Arts Commission in 1999, 2000,2004, 2005, 2006; and “Beyond Talk: Redrawing Race” at Seattle’s Wing Luke Asian Museum in 2004. She was also one of several artists who showed at Mixed Media Art Display, held at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, in Federal Way, 2001.

Sugimura with Ron Chew, executive director, Wing Luke Asian Museum at the opening of "Beyond Talk: Redrawing Race" in April, 2004

They have led Mizu Sugimura to the juried art show to be featured at this year’s Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup; led her back to her own artist’s heart.

Sugimura said, “For a long time I felt hesitant to publicly claim I was an artist, even though I always felt like one in my heart. When I said I made art, the first question that came was what were my credentials. My lack of professional training appeared to catch me.”

“Thinking, feeling and looking at the world from another perspective other than an artist is unthinkable for me. I wouldn’t know how to do it any other way. Other people’s limited definitions proved a stumbling block for many, many years. Now I believe in the definition I’ve written on my own.”

“Claiming my identity, based on my understanding of my own life experience is something I’m now comfortable in doing. There is a confidence in recent years that, heretofore, was not there.”

Inset from Sugimura's collage, "Hanging By Plaques," which will be seen this year at the Puyallup Fair.

Thank you Mizu, for sharing your life-experience and your Art with us, in the neighbourhood. Well done! I hope lots of folks get out to the show…and perhaps you will share more of your art with us in future posts.