Rain
Artist
Osamu James Nakagawa
(American, born 1962)
Date2003
Mediuminkjet print
Dimensions76.2 x 101.6 cm (30 x 40 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineGift of the Artist
Terms
Object number2006.11
Label TextRaised between Tokyo, Japan, and Texas, Nakagawa’s Rain explores his shared Japanese and American heritage as well as the role photography plays in structuring memories and identity. Foregrounded is a childhood photograph of his Japanese mother Yoko with her father and uncles. Raining from above are a series of repeating film strips from home movies taken by the artist’s father when Nakagawa was a child. To his father, the movie camera, “…symbolized the American good life.” This work is part of Nakagawa’s Ma series, which loosely translates to “between.” “I feel like a stranger to both Japanese and English languages and cultures,” says Nakagawa. “Photography has become my expressive bridge.”ProvenanceThe artist, Bloomington, INOn View
Not on view
