With Sensoji Memoirs Abridged, Sensoji Memoirs Unspoken & Sensoji Memoirs in Blue, 37″ x 28″ ea.
ink & acrylic on canvas
3 Paintings at The National Art Center Tokyo, Japan
Above and below are images of my paintings that exhibited in 2019 at the The National Art Center, Tokyo, in The 19th Japan International ART Exchange Exhibition curated by Katsu Shimmin with U.S. curator Julienne Johnson.
Sensoji Memoirs Abridged, Sensoji Memoirs Unspoken & Sensoji Memoirs in Blue, on exhibit in Japan at
The National Art Center, Tokyo. Photo credit: Tammy Tappan
From the museum to the U.S. Embassy Tokyo
After their debut at the museum, the paintings got accepted into the cultural heritage collection of the U.S. Embassy Tokyo, Japan, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Art in Embassies.
Sensoji Memoirs Collection by Brooke Harker in The U.S. Embassy Tokyo, Japan. Photo courtesy of The Embassy.
The creation of these artworks came from a desire to honor the memory of my roommate and friend, Katie, who passed away in 2017. They were inspired by our adventures in Japan in 1999, when we worked together at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. She was with me when I sketched the Sensoji Temple in person. This temple has appeared in my work several times since then, and continues to be symbolic in my career. I didn’t know then, when I dipped my paintbrush in a puddle, that years later I would become a professional artist. In 2014, Katie commissioned me to make a version of this image for her that I used to reference these three.
Tokyo Temple for Katie, 12″ x 9″ ink & watercolor on paper, 2014.
In 2019, I knew that if my work got accepted into the museum exhibit, there would be no soul on the planet who would’ve been as excited for me as her. I really wished I could call to tell her. However, I decided to believe that maybe somewhere she already knew, and might have even helped from above. The National Art Center happened to be in the same neighborhood we walked through daily to and from work. The opportunity felt like complete synchronicity.
When the paintings got accepted into the museum exhibit, it then became my dream to get them into the U.S. Embassy. After months of work and correspondence and the kindness of friends of friends and strangers…that dream came true.
Sensoji Memoirs Unspoken by Brooke Harker, -37″ x 28″ ink & acrylic on canvas
The middle painting in red, Sensoji Memoirs Unspoken, received a Award of Excellence at the museum. Of the three paintings, it was the one that was most about my friend. It contains energy, thoughts and memories that I haven’t been able to put into words. My guess is that any combination of words just isn’t big enough to express those experiences, both in joy and loss. Nor can my paintings capture the magnitude of who she was in the lives of others. I suppose life is that way…we are meant to live vibrantly with the people who come into our lives and when they go, there is nothing that can or will take the places they held. There is no going backwards to relive what is gone and yet those past experiences can’t be taken away either…because they live in the fibers of who we’ve become.
I’m deeply grateful to the staff in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Art in Embassies for helping this dream come true and to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo for adopting these paintings and bringing me together with my friend so many years ago. I’m also thankful to Camp Adventure Youth Services who placed us in Tokyo in 1999. To anyone who reads this who knew my friend or who has had such a spirit in your life…my heart is with you.
To keep the paintings together in coming years, they will be known at the Embassy as Sensoji Memoirs Collection.
Paintings Celebrate in Homes Over the Holidays
Beyond paintings finding a new homes in Tokyo this past December, a few other paintings celebrated the season with new families. I continue to be a bit of a proud parent as I see the lives of paintings after they’ve left the nest. It brings me so much joy to know they get to party with somebody and be part of memories.
The home of Nautical Hearts by Brooke Harker, 34″ x 60″ ink, oil & acrylic on canvas
The home of Arcobaleno Nights by Brooke Harker 38″ x 74″ ink, oil & acrylic on canvas
a surprise install of Le Moment de Jouer by Brooke Harker, 36″ x 54″ ink & acrylic on canvas
I matched the lady in the painting with my jacket and accessories:)
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Brooke Harker
