Hideki’s Outing to the Pacific Ocean on the Coast of Japan Triptych

Panel 1: Hideki in the Ocean
Panel 2: Hideki Suns at the Boat
Panel 3: Hideki in an Inner Tube

Oil Pastel on Paper Mounted on Handmade Rice Paper on Gatorfoam Panel.
3 Panels: 48" x 60" overall

Yachiyo Uchida moved to San Francisco forty years ago bringing with her, her two children Joko and Hideki. She left Japan after the war to be reunited with her mother, Toshi, who had come here when Yachiyo was a baby, and to escape an abusive relationship with Hideki’s father, her second husband. Still unable to speak English comfortably, her oral history was taken on videotape with Hideki acting as translator. The paintings in these slides were created from black and white family photos that had been taken mostly by Yachiyo’s stepfather, a dentist and avid photographer. His collection of photos includes images of the SF World Expose and the 1909 Earthquake in San Francisco.