Roger Shimomura

Shadow of Enemy #2 - 2007

Acrylic on Canvas

American Hello Kitty - 2010

Acrylic on Canvas

Dairy: December 12, 1941 - 1980

Acrylic on Canvas

Classmates #1 - 2007

Acrylic on Canvas

Fox and Banzai - 2003

Acrylic on Canvas

Roger Shimomura, a painter, print artist, and theatrical artist is largely influenced by him and his family's sociopolitically intensive experience during World War II. Shimomura's work reflects highly on the racial lines and perspectives during the WWII time period. His opinionated social and political work continue on throughout his career - with pieces like "American Hello Kitty" that play on the common perception of Asian-Americans as stereotypical cartoons with generically "cute" characteristics. Towards the earlier parts of his career Shimomura speaks to his family's experience in during WWII. He was born in Seattle, Washington and lived some of his early years in a concentration camp in Minidoka, Idaho. He was inspired by the diaries of his late grandmother who had immigrated from Japan. Shimomura had endured the concentration camps with his family, with elders who had immigrated and himself who was an American. Details of the young lives who were in these camps are reflected in pieces like "Shadow of Enemy #2", where the absurdity of placing these innocent "patriots" in a lock-box seems obvious. Shimomura received a B.A. degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, and an M.F.A. from Syracuse University, New York. He has had over 125 solo exhibitions of paintings and prints, as well as presented his experimental theater pieces. In 2002, the College Art Association presented him with the “Artist Award for Most Distinguished Body of Work,” for his 4 year, 12-museum national tour of the painting exhibition, “An American Diary.” Shimomura is in the permanent collections of over 80 museums nationwide.