"With Liberty and Justice for Some"

Barbara Horiuchi Masters of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, San Jose State University, Art & Design Department, Gallery Three, First Floor

November 16th through 19th, 2009

Reception Tuesday, Nov. 17th 6-8pm

“With Liberty and Justice for Some”     
     At one time in my life, I believed in the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, particularly “with liberty and justice for all.”  Then, around the age of nine, I was told about the incarceration of my Nisei parents and Issei grandparents in relocation camps during WWII. ...In my current installation, over one-hundred frames cover a wall of the gallery. The frames do not contain the individual’s name or image; only their assigned number and other select information from the public archive War Relocation Authority records will be displayed. The information is matted with the traditional portrait mat to signify that these “numbers” are people. The dehumanized portrait represents how the US government saw them. The listing of assigned numbers without names provides a narrative framework to a Japanese American cultural memory that references the sociopolitical and historical issues of subjugation and injustice. Archive files placed in the gallery opposite the wall of frames re-humanizes the individuals by highlighting significant events in their lives or after death, their many wonderful accomplishments and contributions during and after the camps, and their struggles to overcome the historical travesty of justice Americans imposed upon Americans sixty-seven years ago.