Dean Terasaki
Artist Statement
My current work represents an intersection of memory, history, and Japanese-American culture. For over forty years, I have created photomontages that expand image content beyond the singular moment in time. My photomontages build narratives around family, cultural history and shared memory within today’s technological media environment. I am currently on a journey to visit each of the concentration camp sites where Japanese-Americans were forcibly relocated during World War II. Other visual sources include family snapshots, letters sent from those camps and business documents from my grandfather’s import business. I make montages by blending, and thereby transforming, these different elements. The traditional photographic moment is an armature affected by memory and context. I reshape that moment by introducing other images texts. My images, in dialogue with time and memory, form a compelling visual narrative that illuminates the spirit, consciousness, and history of my community.
Bio
Dean Terasaki is a Phoenix-based photographer with a deep connection to his Japanese American heritage. The discovery of his father's WWII memorabilia sparked his lifelong exploration of photography, memory, and the intersection of race and culture in society. As a young person searching for a future, Dean hopped freight trains, drove taxicabs, and realized that he seemed to carry a camera everywhere. Dean earned a BFA from the University of Colorado (1978) and a MFA in photography from Arizona State University (1985). After a brief move to New York City, he returned to Phoenix where, for 33 years, he taught photography and digital imaging at Glendale Community College. Dean’s one-person exhibitions include shows at ASU’s Northlight Gallery, the Phoenix Public Library, the Print Center in Philadelphia, Modified Arts, and Phoenix College’s art department gallery. Dean currently resides in Phoenix with his wife, Teri, and their dog.