JANET NEUWALDER

“Shikata Ga Nai/It Cannot Be Helped”

Janet Neuwalder presents a collection of memorial-like installations responding to the U.S. Japanese incarceration and Holocaust displacement. By manipulating clay, Neuwalder sculpts interconnected blossoms of shells, evocative topographic cityscapes, delicate porcelain shoes and other items.

This body of work emanates from a profound personal connection to the subject matter. Reflecting on her mother's incarceration in the Japanese American camp Topaz in the Utah desert, and her father's history of Holocaust displacement, Neuwalder intertwines the threads of history with the resilient essence of the human spirit.

BIO

Janet Neuwalder is a sculptor and installation artist specializing in clay and ceramic processes. Some of Neuwalder’s installations are modeled after anthropological displays often found in Natural History Museums. Her wall installations are often assembled from hundreds of fragments that seemingly float on the wall. Neuwalder draws from her Japanese-Austrian heritage using historical, personal, and appropriated images as mental and visual markers that map and launch a visual arena for the viewer.

The Focus On The Masters archive has extensive information about this artist.