This quilted hanging is inspired by the Japanese hanging scrolls known as kakejiku.

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The central image is a recreation of a drawing by my granduncle Kiyoshi Kikuchi, who, along with my grandmother and other members of their family, spent time in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. The drawing is a map of the Minidoka camp in Idaho where my family lived and was likely completed as an assignment while Kiyoshi was studying architecture at the University of Michigan.

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The piece used a combination of hand and machine sewing along with inked elements in the spirit of the original pen drawing. Certain areas of the image show the interior spaces of the camp and these are illustrated by applique and reverse applique. 

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More information about the Minidoka Naional Historic Site can be found here.