Gina Ariko: Ikebana and the Art of Resistance

In Ikebana and the Art of Resilience, Seattle-based artist Gina Ariko presents a moving exploration of creativity, resilience, and remembrance through the lens of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. This timely exhibition—supported by the 2025 Kip Tokuda Memorial Grant—reflects on the legacy of floral artworks and arrangements created by Japanese Americans held in internment camps across the U.S.A. Visitors are invited to contemplate the enduring power of creative expression during times of upheaval.

Drawing from archival research and personal heritage, Ariko’s work investigates the meditative, healing qualities of ikebana—the Japanese art of floral arrangement—as both a cultural tradition and a form of resilience under duress. Paintings, installations, and floral arrangements echo the quiet strength of detainees who found ways to create beauty amidst confinement, connecting viewers to a broader narrative about survival, adaptation, and the role of art in survival. 

Throughout the month, Ariko will also host a series of free community workshops: ikebana-inspired watercolor painting, artificial flower-making inspired by camp archives, and floral arranging based on traditional Japanese techniques. Designed to foster engagement across generations and cultural backgrounds, the workshops create space for empathy as well as learning through hands-on experience.  

Presented in Seattle’s historic Nihonmachi/Japantown, Ikebana and the Art of Resilience holds special significance. With Gallery 110 located just blocks from the site of Japanese American removal in 1942, the exhibition becomes more than a presentation—it’s a homecoming, an homage, and an act of remembrance in place.