Print Study Picks: The Influence and Endurance of Asian American and Pacific Islander Artists
By Lori Williamson
May 15, 2025—Mia is proud to celebrate the creative legacies of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) artists this May. Our selected pieces highlight the essential perspectives, fathomless talent, and enduring, cross-cultural influence of AAPI artists in the art history canon.
Roger Shimomura (American, b. 1939), Publisher: Lawrence Lithography Workshop, Kansas City, Missouri, American Guardian, 2008, color lithograph. The Eugene and Virginia Palmer Fund for Prints and Drawings. 2018.81
From 1942 to 1946, the U.S. government forcibly removed more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from their homes and incarcerated them without due process. Among those imprisoned was Roger Shimomura, a third-generation Japanese American artist interned along with his family during World War II in the Minidoka Japanese Internment Camp in Idaho. This atrocity is conveyed in a striking lithograph. We see an armed guard watching a small boy—a reference to Shimomura at age 4—riding a tricycle in a camp enclosed by barbed wire.
Diyan Achjadi (Canadian, born Indonesia 1971), Back and Forth, 2016, ink, acrylic, and colored pencil on paper. Gift of funds from Mary and Bob Mersky. 2024.55.1
Mia acquired the above work in 2024, and it’s currently on view in “Radiance” in Gallery 353. Artist Diyan Achjadi (they/she) has characterized their artistic interest as exploring “different perceptions of the world.” Achjadi was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and spent their formative years moving between Jakarta, Hong Kong, London, and Washington, D.C. She later settled in New York City. The vivid creatures that populate Achjadi’s work reflect her dynamic experiences, referencing dragons, unicorns, and everything in between.
Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Winding River, 1890, oil monotype and pastel on heavy paper; laid down on paper-wrapped millboard. The John R. Van Derlip Fund. 009.19.1
Japonisme, a French term meaning “Japanese-ness,” refers to a late 19th-century Western fascination with Japanese culture, particularly in France. Here, an oil monotype by Impressionist Edgar Degas offers an example of how this influence manifested. A monotype is created when ink is applied to a nonporous surface, which is then pressed through a printing machine, resulting in a single, unique print.
Degas collected prints by many Japanese artists, including Utagawa Hiroshige, who was a master of the ukiyo-e woodblock printing tradition. Hiroshige’s color woodcut, Asuma Shrine and the Entwined Camphor, shows notable parallels with Degas’ Winding River, from composition to the use of color.
Learn more about the symbiotic artistic connections between Japan and France in the 19th century in “Hokusai | Monet,” on view in the Cargill Gallery through August 10, 2025.
Mia is home to one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of the arts of Asia. The museum is a vibrant resource for appreciating Asian cultural heritage, both past and present. Join us in celebrating the exceptional historical and contemporary creative achievements of AAPI artists with these videos, stories, and more.
About Lori Williamson, Supervisor of the Herschel V. Jones Print Study Room at Mia
Lori Williamson creates mini-exhibitions and teaches classes and Print Study Room visitors about the museum’s rich collection of works on paper. She’s the primary caretaker for more than 40,000 prints, 6,000 drawings, and 600 artists’ books, collaborating with curators in American, European, and Global Contemporary Art to make these holdings accessible. Williamson supports scholars through research and inquiry, and advocates for the inclusion of works on paper in exhibitions, social media, and outreach, helping to connect diverse audiences with this dynamic collection.
Interested in seeing something in the Print Study Room? All are welcome by appointment. Email Lori Williamson and copy the Print Study Room to make an appointment.
Meet the other curators in the Department of European Art.