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Three of my prints were selected for "The Printed Image2" exhibition now showing at the Sabatini Gallery, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Kansas. "Toyoko" received the juror's award from Mr. Roger Shimomura.
The print "Toyoko" was based on Toyoko Nozaka, the grandmother of a friend of mine, Julie Otsuka (who is also a Manhattan-based writer and author). Julie wrote When the Emperor Was Divine. After entering the exhibition, I discovered that the book was chosen by the Topeka and Shawnee Public Library as their one-county read. The story is about Toyoko and her family being sent to internment camps in the U.S. during the Second World War. Julie found pictures of her grandmother which served as my reference for the print. Toyoko's son, Andy Nozaka, who is also in the story but not mentioned by name, helped me further with information about his mother. I received from Mr. Nozaka their family crest (three bamboo leaves in a circle), which I incorporated into the image of Toyoko's kimono. Now, the print will become part of the permanent collection of prints at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, the very same institution which chose When the Emperor Was Divine as their one-county read-- a small world, indeed.
You can see the prints at www.tscpl.org/gallery/
Eduardo Fausti
