Prof. Susan Y. Shimazu

Project:

VISIBLE – The “Seeing Beyond” Social Practice Art Prototype

Co-PI: Prof. Nicole Yang

VISIBLE explores new ways of seeing both visually and interpersonally. The exhibition will use lenticular works to illustrate and illuminate artists’ self-concepts and anaglyphs to visualize the impact of and response to hate incidents in Orange and Los Angeles County. In addition, a digital interface will be available to all guests to participate in making art with us to create a collage that makes VISIBLE the multiplicity of identities and individuals that compose Orange and Los Angeles Counties.

four art panels are hung on a wall in bright room, with a glass-enclosed case in the middle that displays "THE VISIBLE ALPHABET"

Faculty bio:

a silhouette of a person against a background of a starry purple sky, with a logo for "DEFCon"

Susan is a third generation Japanese American and a child of World War II Concentration Camp Internees. She grew up near South Los Angeles and obtained her Master’s from the UCLA School of Public Health. Her work includes curating an exhibit for the Santa Ana Artwalk called The Bloom Polylogue, performing at the LA Psychological Association Mirrors of the Mind Exhibition, and producing an autobiographical film for the Western Region Psychological Association Conference. Her parents and grandparents were subject to xenophobia, dispossesion, and relocation. Her vision for this project is to raise awareness and build empathy for victims of hate and discrimination and to invite the public into collaborative artmaking using digital mediums. She has been teaching at CSUF for 10 years and has joined in activities to connect Evangelical social practice artists through the HUB with City Seminary of New York.