Hisako Terasaki

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Hisako Terasaki, Japanese American etcher, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1928.

1 Early Years
2 Middle Years
3 Later Years
4 Further Information

[edit] Early Years

Terasaki's parents were economic emigrants from Japan to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Her father, Suichi Sumioka receive a degree in Engineering from Stanford University, but after encountering discrimination in his attempts to obtain a job, he eventually came to own a flower shop in East Los Angeles. In 1942 in the midst of her parents' struggle to establish themselves, Hisako and her family, all United States citizens, were removed to Poston Relocation Center in Arizona as part of Executive Order 9066 in response to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. After World War II the Sumioka family had to split up for a few years as each member worked to get the family back on its feet. Hisako working as a live-in house keeper while attending high school; her mother died when she was 18.

[edit] Middle Years

Terasaki went on to study Art at Los Angeles City College, but under pressure from her family to pursue a more practical career, she obtained her B.A. degree in Education from Los Angeles State College in 1954. During this year, she also married Paul Ichiro Terasaki after meeting at their local Methodist church. They both were Nisei generation, their parents having emigrated from Japan, and they had in common internment during World War II, and a relatively impoverished upbringing in East Los Angeles. After teaching elementary school for one year, Terasaki had three sons and a daughter between 1954 and 1962. While raising a family and supporting what would become her husband's distinguished and busy academic career in Transplantation at UCLA, Terasaki pursued her activities in printmaking, exhibiting mainly in the Los Angeles area. The subject matter of her work reflected her extensive travels accompanying her husband around the world and her constant care of four children. In fact, her most prolific period artistically was during the busy years of the 1970's and 1980's.

[edit] Later Years

Once their children were grown, Terasaki and her husband became more involved in the Los Angeles community. They supported cultural, academic and church related activities, reflecting their life-long interests. Later in their lives, Paul and Hisako would be able to offer significant philanthropic support to the Japanese American community.

[edit] Further Information

[edit] Exhibitions

1978 The Framecompany, Los Gatos, California
1979 Second Annual Bay Area Women's Graphic Arts Competition, California
1979 Los Angeles Art Association Gallery, California
1980 Los Angeles Art Association Gallery, California
1980 Garendo Gallery, Studio City, California
1980 Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga, California
1981 San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, California
1981 Fourth Annual Print show, Westwood Center of the Arts, Los Angeles, California
1982 LAPS Membership Print Exhibition at the Multicultural Arts Institute, San Diego, California
1983 Ninth International Miniature Print Exhibition, Pratt Graphics Center Gallery, New York