Artwork copyright Keiko Hara. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Keiko Hara. The artist Keiko Hara with her artwork. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Keiko Hara. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Keiko Hara. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Artwork copyright Keiko Hara. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2024.

Topophilia - Hope Peace Dream Growth, 2024

Keiko Hara
(Japanese, born 1942)

Location: Image Elementary School, Vancouver

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Topophilia - Hope Peace Dream Growth by Keiko Hara references nature, growth, the elements, and the cosmos. It is about viewers’ inspirations and desires. Hara wanted to create something to "uplift the spirits and spark the imaginations” of all who pass the artwork. Pattern, color, texture, and reflectivity are used to create layering and depth in the glass artwork.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Evergreen School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Keiko Hara’s art is about facing and examining life through her own personal language – something which cannot be done in any way other than art, in her opinion.

Hara was born during World War II (1939-45) in North Korea to Japanese parents. In 1945, her family moved back to Japan, where she was raised. As a young woman, she attended art school in Tokyo, exhibited her paintings, and taught arts and crafts in the Japanese public school system. In 1971, she travelled to the United States and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting at the Mississippi University for Women, a Master of Arts degree in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Hara was a professor of art at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Southeastern Washington, from 1985 to 2006. She continues to live and make art in Walla Walla.