SANDS OF TIME. Desert Sands, a series of images and two short videos by Emily Hanako Momohara is on display through March 15 at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, located at 121 N.W. Second Avenue in Portland’s Chinatown. For each photograph, Momohara took an easily recognizable item from Japanese culture — such as a fan — and portrayed it partially visible, with much of it covered in sand. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

From The Asian Reporter, V19, #5 (February 3, 2009), page 9.

By Julie Stegeman

Artist Emily Hanako Momohara wanted to get in touch with her family’s roots. A fourth-generation Japanese American, she grew up realizing there were holes in her family’s stories.

Her great-grandparents, along with their children — including Momohara’s grandmother — were among the more than 13,000 Japanese Americans interned at the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho during World War II. Alan Momohara, Emily Momohara’s father, said his family didn’t discuss their incarceration when he was growing up. His parents and grandparents were more interested in being good, patriotic Americans, even naming their children with American-sounding names.

Emily Momohara became more curious about her family’s missing past as she approached adulthood, an interest that blossomed after the 60th anniversary commemorating Executive Order 9066 — which led to the Japanese-American internment — in 2002. She became active with the Friends of Minidoka (FOM), a nonprofit group dedicated to upholding the legacy of interned Japanese Americans that has organized a pilgrimage to the Minidoka site annually since 2003.

An artist with several degrees — a BFA in photography and a BA in art history from the University of Washington and an MFA in expanded media from the University of Kansas — Momohara began travelling to several of the internment camps and documenting them using black-and-white photography.

In 2006 and 2007, Momohara was inspired to use her family’s personal story to create Desert Sands, a series of 20 images and two short videos. The title of the exhibit is an allusion to present-day war.

For each photograph, Momohara has taken an easily recognizable item from Japanese culture and portrayed it partially visible, with much of it covered in sand. Items so buried include a maneki neko (a lucky cat, beckoning with an upright paw), a fan, chopsticks, a family rice bowl, and many others. One image depicts four potatoes — three buried and one unburied — representing the four generations of Japanese Americans in Momohara’s family and the crop that many in the internment camps farmed.

Momohara chose sand for a variety of reasons. "Most of the camps, including Minidoka where my family was held, were desert locations. Stories of sand seeping into the barracks are prevalent in the community. Also, sandstorm stories are plentiful," she said. "I realize the other meanings the sand can have. It is the earth, it buries and covers. You excavate in the earth. Much like my desire to find the culture and stories from camp."

Several of the images from Desert Sands are on display at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (ONLC) and can be viewed through March 15. Items from the Minidoka internment camp are also on display, including a sculpture and shoji screen made there.

Momohara is an assistant professor of photography at the Art Academy in Cincinnati. She is currently working on "Koden," a series of images and shadows taken at funeral homes and mausoleums, inspired by the passing of several of her family members.

The Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center is located at 121 N.W. Second Avenue in Portland. Hours are 11:00am to 3:00pm Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 3:00pm on Sunday. For more information, call (503) 224-1458 or visit <www.oregonnikkei.org>. To learn more about Emily Momohara or Desert Sands, visit <www.ehmomohara.com>.