Artist's Studio: Tom Nakashima

Tom Nakashima, great-grandson of a samurai warrior and nephew of furniture legend George Nakashima, recently donated a large collaged print to the Ogden Museum's permanent collection that will be unveiled in January's Recent Acquisitions show. Seen here in his Augusta, Georgia studio, one can judge the scale of these large hand-worked prints. Using a grid method to blow up images to this scale, Nakashima's process is unique in that each square is finished separately and completely before moving on the the next piece. This technique forces the artist to view each square of the grid as a unique and complete surface. A Sansei of Japanese and Canadian descent, Nakashimi works deftly with allegory using symbols drawn from his bifurcated heritage. Photos by David Houston.