In April, we welcomed a new art exhibition to the Fairchild-Martindale Library, a collection of 20 works by contemporary artist Rob Sato. The exhibit was part of The Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries programming with an artist visit and lecture held later in the year. Artist, illustrator and writer Rob Sato (Japanese American, 1977-) plays with design, color, medium, and meaning in his art. Summarizing the inspiration behind his art, Sato writes, "Throughout my life I’ve been driven to craft narrative imagery and pursue storytelling. Some of my work takes more obvious narrative forms while much of it is abstract and not necessarily what one might consider traditionally story-driven.” Additionally, Sato draws inspiration from the graphic Japanese style of Manga. In Paper Trail, installed throughout study space on the sixth floor south, Sato explores hyper-personal and emotional observations, often working with ideas related to memory and transformation. He argues that art is the only place where one can healthily play with unhealthy thoughts and “explore undefined corners of consciousness.” Sato explains his artistic process, “Most of my body of work has been made through a free-form process that layers autobiography, fiction, thoughts on history, and observations about life in the present into a foundation where I can jump off into more fantastical, absurd or surreal imagery which plays with both personal and traditional symbology.” Glimpses of Sato’s Japanese American background are often a fixture found within his work. Implications of the history surrounding his ancestral heritage, such as the horrors of the Japanese internment camps during World War II, can be found throughout his portfolio. Paper Trail was on exhibit through October 2022. ROB SATO PAPER TRAIL 22 | L I BRARY AND TECHNOLOGY SERV I CES "WHEN I FIRST SAW THE ART IT WAS A QUICK FIT FOR FML BECAUSE THIS IS THE WAY THAT WE LOOK AT LIBRARIES: SOMEPLACE WHERE EVERYONE IN THE COMMUNITY GATHERS.” —BOAZ NADAV-MANES University Librarian
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