#dreamrefuge

[asianartsblog]

Experience the exhibition by Na Omi Judy Shintani 'Dream Refuge for Children Imprisoned,' where art breathes life into the silent struggles of imprisoned children. Come visit the exhibition at Asian Arts Gallery, Center for the Arts, Towson University.

Artist Statement by Na Omi Judy Shintani:

“I began this installation process with “The Innocent Dreamer” the first sleeping child I drew in honor of the Japanese American children imprisoned at Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno, California after the Pearl Harbor attack. I stuffed the girl’s mattress with hay and was instantly transported to that time, experiencing the smell and itchiness, and the insult of having to make my bed to sleep in a horse stable. The life size child drawing elicited tearful memories of those who were children in American concentration camps. She touched all kinds of people’s hearts and souls. She brought home the horror of imprisoning children as terrorists in our country.

Then the shock of the treatment of Central American children at our borders bombarded me, and I did what I always do - express my activism through art. I expanded the project to include more sleeping children to connect the US history of incarcerating children to the atrocities happening to children being imprisoned and separated from their families today. While the children safely slumber in the Dream Refuge, one can hear the realities of their experienced trauma, and know that it may still affect them now. The drawings represent Japanese American children that were incarcerated for years in American concentration camps during WWII (my own father being one of them), American Indian boarding school children who were denied their culture and were taken from their communities, and the Central American children who are imprisoned, separated from their families, and living in squalid, unsafe conditions at the border.”

Date and Time: April 19 – May 18 (closed March 17-24)

Monday – Saturday 11 am – 4 pm

Asian Arts Gallery, Center for the Arts, Towson University

1 Fine Arts Drive, Towson, MD 21204

For more info: bit.ly/aacc-events

[dreamtora]

March 7th, 2016 - [X]

Drew this one night when I was feeling really down. Inspiration and name is from the best Vocaloid song I've ever heard. As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words".

[dreamtora]

January 13th, 2016 - [X]

Dream Refuge Character Profile Tsuyaten Nickname(s): Puma Boy Age: 17 Gender: Male Species: Wild Cat Breed: Cougar Personality: A smug, rambunctious punk who is Keisuke's self-proclaimed rival. His ego is as big as his mouth, and he challenges anyone who stands in his way of a sweet cash deal - and the affection of a beautiful flower by the name of Marie. Deep down he's a softy, but don't say that out loud in front of him unless you want a punch in the face. Family: Neizu and Caira (paternal cousins) Additional Notes: - It's rumored that Tsuyaten dropped out of high school to pursue bounty hunting with his older cousins, but he and Neizu never got along and Neizu eventually had Tsuyaten kicked out of the guild after an argument. It was after this that Tsuyaten and Keisuke tried to start a band together, but because of misunderstandings that didn't last long either. - Tsuyaten's desperation for money is not for greed, but rather because he was cut off financially by his uncle once he dropped out of high school. As his uncle put it, "when you drop out of school you've committed adulthood, so get a job you lazy bum". At least he's got enough decency to still let Tsuyaten sleep inside, albeit in the basement. --- Shading is like breaking up, it's hard to do. *Shot* Bad jokes aside, I'm still rather pleased with how I did with Tsuyaten. He's another character I've grown quite fond of and I feel like his oldschool personality was always the best personality. Oh, and I will be redrawing Marie at some point as well, incase you're wondering who she is or haven't seen her in awhile. Anyway, I've got other projects I've gotta work on, but glad at least I can post this one for now. Tsuyaten is mine. And yes he really is a softy. (Tsuyaten: 'ey! D<)

[dreamtora]

October 11th, 2015 - [X]

Another character I was fond of. She was actually a character that killed off in an RP like Sakura was. Rest assured, that won't happen to her this time. Ariane is the younger sister of Asahi, the guy I posted before. Thought it'd be interesting to have them be siblings. I imagine them having a very close bond.

[dreamtora]

October 11th, 2015 - [X]

I was looking at my collection of previous Dream Refuge characters and this guy I actually was very fond of design-wise. So, I decided to bring him back. Originally I was going to make him a seasoned captain of the guards for Uindo but then decided he'd be more interesting as a young adult ninja lad. He might still be partially Maine Coon, maybe a mix. Not sure yet.

[dreamtora]

October 5th, 2015 - [X]

So I herd u liek inktoberz *Shot* Was feeling rather romantically frustrated sentimental the other day, and these two I've been playing around with being together in my mind for a long time, and after awhile I've decided they're cute enough to make an official couple alongside Keisuke X Kumi (it's quite ironic having brothers dating sisters, eh? EHHH? I'll stop now). I went rather crazy with filling in stuff with pen but I really like the feel of this picture. I definitely like using traditional ink a lot. Also ignore the fact that the bench is rather lopsided. I tried. On a side note, I'm actually excited fall/autumn is here. It's my favorite season and no more brutal heat waves.

[dreamtora]

September 28th, 2015 - [X]

I tried to do a character in marker. It would have been better if I had more decent markers. I had gotten a few nice ones from Craft Warehouse and decided it'd be a "good idea" to use some markers I had which I'm pretty sure are from my childhood...big mistake. OTL; Anywho, this is Melodia. The idea for her actually came from someone else, but I came up with an actual design for her that I've been really fond of so I decided to bring her back from the scraps. I have an interesting story idea that Melodia is Keisuke's temporary girlfriend. The story for this would be that Kumi decides to go to an abroad music school (this is before she and Keisuke started dating), and to fill in the void of her being gone Keisuke decides to try courting other girls, one of them being childhood penpal Melodia, and they end up in a semi-serious relationship. And while Melodia may seem like that perfect and really wealthy girl, she's actually a chronic shopaholic who puts herself in a rocky financial situation because she spends too much money on new clothes and other things. Backstory would be something stressfull in her life caused her to turn to shopping as an "escape", and Keisuke once he finds out about all this proceeds to her her get over her addiction and that's what would bring them much closer. They end up breaking up eventually though because Keisuke realizes his true love is and always will be Kumi, but he and Melodia always remain close anyway. But yes, I really like Melodia. I would like to draw her more whenever possible. Oh, and background was done in OpenCanvas, as me attempting markers with backgrounds would go very badly. XD;

[dreamtora]

September 22nd, 2015 - [X]

Dream Refuge Character Profile Ruiko Nickname(s): Rukio (misinterpretation of his real name), Ruki (Tora's nickname) Age: 18 Gender: Male Species: Domestic Cat Breed: Chartreux/Japanese Bobtail mix Personality: Ruiko spends his life in the shadow of his older brother in that he is physically weaker and when he tries to please others, it ends up blowing up in his face. Also unlike Keisuke, Ruiko has a harder time letting things roll off his shoulders and can have a bit of a short fuse. Regardless, he has a strong sense of justice and always strives to reach his goals, which he never stops believing are within his reach. Family: Nairuko (Father), Marina (Mother), Remina (Maternal Aunt), Keisuke (Brother) Additional Notes: - Ruiko is best friends with Tora and feels like he can always count on her to pick him up when's down. It's because of her strong spirit that he is encouraged to keep working hard. - Ruiko studies at the Areian University which is known to be one of the greatest study areas of all Phantaluna. In fact, Professor Raphael, the wisest cat in the world, is headmaster there and his daughter Brooke is a fellow classmate of Ruiko's. --- Bleh, shading doesn't look as great on this. Plus I had to keep messing with the lineart because I felt like Ruiko's head/body size ratio was off. There were other minor mistakes I had to go back and fix because I'm OCD like that. That's all I have to say for this one, really. This is basically cat Ruiko only...DRified. *Shot* Ruiko is also mine.