Pacific Index

Pacific fine arts and Japanese studies senior, Hiro Kato-Teale, begins their capstone art installation

Senior fine arts and Japanese studies major, Hiro Kato-Teale, sits on the couch in the lobby of the library, with a large bag sitting at their feet. When prompted about their upcoming fine arts capstone they explain “the insulation project is, fingers crossed, going to be a three room setup where the audience member is sort of guided through this experience which has artifacts from my grandmother’s life.” Kato-Teale notes that their grandmother was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, something which greatly impacted both her life and that of her family. “So having this sort of personal connection via spaces is kind of the main thing I’m trying to go for,” they say.

“It’s been a lot of setting up, like, walls and stuff; a lot of designing kind of in a more architectural style, which is not something that I’m used to,” Kato-Teale illustrates. While they are not used to this aspect of art presentation, they make it clear that they find it important to push themselves to learn new designing techniques. “Other than that, it’s designing, such as what’s going on, like the outside of the walls,” they clarify.

Since Kato-Teale is both a fine arts and Japanese studies major, they have two capstones to complete. “I’m writing in Japanese. I’m also doing a lot of tangentially related research” they explain, going on to talk about researching the historical context of their art pieces. They continue, sharing, “For the art side of things, there’s a lot of research and stuff that goes into designing, but [that] look into a lot of things historically, as well, you know, art historically and all the sort of nitty gritty political things that kind of go into it that are very important keep in mind.” Since their art insulation deals with both heritage and the bombing of Hiroshima, it was important to not only incorporate some of their Japanese study majors, but also their art contextual skills.

Kato-Teale looks back fondly at their time at Pacific and all of the things that they enjoyed doing while on campus. “I’ve been doing the Japan Club. I was president last year,” they share. When not being a part of extracurriculars, they love hanging out with friends, taking morning walks and searching for four leaf clovers. “It’s just hitting me that I’m going to graduate,” they laugh,  reminiscing about how they will miss their roommates and the quiet, private-college life.