Topaz is a reimagined topographical cityscape of what is left at the historic Topaz Japanese American WWII Confinement Site in Utah. The foundations are like skeletal remains with traces of broken human artifacts like teapots and barbed wire. My grandfather, an engineer, helped build the camp he and his family lived in. Standing on the foundations, I experienced his labor–legacy–directly. The act of making this artwork honors and preserves this history. What is left does not look like much but it is all encoded there. The humanity, sweat, perseverance and resilience is all there in these bones. They speak for themselves.

Clay, wood, table, 2023