Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz
American artist
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Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz (born 1933) is an American artist and art educator; her paintings depict her memories of a childhood during the Japanese American internment.
Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1933 (age 92–93) |
| Education | California State University, Dominguez Hills |
| Occupations | |
| Known for | Illustrations of Japanese American internment |
Early life and education
Chizuko Judy Sugita was born in Orange, California, the youngest of nine children; her mother died from complications soon after Chizuko's birth. Her Hiroshima-born father owned a nursery.[1] In 1942, her family was sent to Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona, as part of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.[2] They were released from Poston when Chizuko was twelve. After the war, she returned to Southern California with her father, and settled in Huntington Beach.[3][4]
Chizuko Judy Sugita earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills.[4] In 1953, she was chosen as Nisei Week Queen.[5][6]
Career
Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz worked as an art teacher at Palos Verdes High School, and served as chair of the school's art department.[7] After early retirement following a workplace injury, she turned to watercolor painting full-time, and took up her childhood memories of camp life as her theme.[8][9] Her illustrated memoir, Camp Days, 1942-1945, was published in 2004, with an introduction by George Takei.[10]
An exhibit of her watercolors about her childhood in Poston, "Camp Days, 1942-1945," was first shown at the Palos Verdes Art Center near her home, in 2009.[11] It has since appeared at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (in 2010–11).[12][13] She lectures on her life and work, saying "This is what I wanted to leave for my grandchildren, I wanted them to know what their parents and family went through."[14]
Her paintings in the exhibit are mostly of one of two styles: a representational style, or an abstract style with impressionistic abstracts.[15] "Unanswered Prayers", shown to the right, is one of her more abstract paintings.[15] She remarks "Camp made me realize that my prayers would never be answered. I knew my mother would never come back to life, and I would never be a blue-eyed blond."[15] She features to the top right of the painting, which depicts her coming out of a cement shower room, "uncomfortable, sad, and depressed."[15] Many of the paintings in the exhibit depict similar emotions like sorrow, loss, loneliness, and longing; this one also illustrates her insecurity about her body as she moved towards puberty in the camp, where she was required to shower naked with the other women.[15]
Montez Productions made a film of her story, "Childhood Memories of Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz," in 2011.[16] Her art also appears in the documentary "Heart Mountain: An All-American Town," by Raechel Donahue.[17]
Personal life
Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz is married to Richard de Queiroz.[6][failed verification]