The 2024 Governor Awards in the Arts commissioned artworks were created by Yoko Nogami, an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Currently residing in Letcher County, Kentucky, she is a prominent advocate for arts education and accessibility.
Nogami serves as the Cultural Arts & Education Director with Cowan Community Action Group, Inc., while also working as an independent artist consultant.
Nogami’s artistic practice is conceptually driven, addressing themes of cultural displacement, gender, parenthood, and identity. Her work often features a fictional character named “Toko,” a blend of herself and her daughter, Tora, who navigates and reflects on the world around them. Toko appears in each commissioned piece, merging nature, music, and visual media, showcasing her passion for the rich cultural heritage of Kentucky.
An internationally exhibiting artist, Nogami’s teaching experience spans several institutions, including the University of South Florida and the Art Institute of Tampa, and includes work with at-risk youth and individuals with developmental disabilities. Through her multifaceted approach, Yoko Nogami continues to champion the importance of the arts in fostering community and preserving cultural traditions in Kentucky and beyond.
Please visit Nogami’s website for more information at nogamiyoko.com.
Artist’s Statement
As a Japanese Kentuckian, this series “Resilient Kentucky” tells the story of the harmony between the land, the mountains, the flora, the fauna and people; how they are woven together to make this beautiful state. Resilient, because in eastern Kentucky where I call home, everything and everyone lives in these mountains with deep love, culture, traditions and it’s perseverance, rarely seen anywhere else in this country.
All the while, as a Japanese artist, it is also important for me to see how I fit in this beautiful place, where many of the features of nature and the culture and traditions of the long history of Appalachia mirror that of where I was born and raised, Japan. The works incorporate elements from my birth home Japan, through the use of materials such as chiyo paper, and artistic language and design. I focus and reflect on seeking commonalities, the reason why Kentucky is now my chosen home.
The visual story is created inspired by each award category, such as the morel mushroom being interviewed by the character I use called Toko, for the Media Award. Without field recordings made by many dedicated media specialists, some of the old mountain stories may not have existed today.
It is an absolute honor to have been commissioned and given an opportunity to reflect and create this body of work which presents a vision of Appalachian Kentucky to the very deserving recipients of the Kentucky Governor’s Award of 2024.