As a Japanese native, my dream country of America has provided me with many opportunities to associate with people from diverse backgrounds. I found delight in the encounters and naturally started to express them in my art.

My nursing and artistic careers have been an integral part of my life. I wanted to broaden my perspective through hands-on experience, and nursing gave me that opportunity. I worked for persons with AIDS in New York City, for a hospice on an indian reservation, and for a tuberculosis program in a war-torn region of the former Soviet Union. While acclimating to different cultures, and accepting different lifestyles and values nonjudgmentally, the IMPORTANCE OF EMPATHY, the core theme of my art, took shape.

I believe that empathy and mutual respect are the first steps toward harmonious relationships. As such, my creations are vehicles to deepen understanding of different, yet uniquely beautiful human lives.

Úmiko

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