Primer cuadro de la serie de Desaparecidos Nikkei.
First Painting of the Desaparecidos/Disappeared Nikkei.
Oscar Oshiro's Portrait. My dad.
Lawyer/Activist Desaparecido in Argentina
on April 21, 1977.
I have been painting non-stop for almost two months. Reading the stories of the other Japanese descent people on Andres Asato's book. "No Sabian que Eramos Semillas".
When I decided to paint the disappeared I had no idea that it was going to be so difficult, I thought that maybe my dad's painting was going to be hard because of the emotional involvement. But it turned out that I felt the same grief for the other 16 desaparecidos. I got to know some of the relatives that were carrying the same sadness in them. The same questions that I had.
The pictures from forty years ago or more, were so faded or so dark with just dark shadows that it was hard to figure out the faces, I had to read their stories and learn how they were like. I wanted to bring them back to life even though it was just a painting. I wanted to translate on a canvas their character, their strengths.
Picasso said that "Everything you can imagine is real", I took it that whatever you paint becomes real. And I needed to be like that to be able to carry on with my series. No more black and white, no detail pictures, I can look each on straight into their eyes. I hope the relatives looking at their loved ones on my paintings could feel like they are back to them, at least for a moment. Until we get the justice and until we are able to bury them and bring flowers to their tombs.
June 13th, 2016.
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