Tom w/ Matisse ‘Bathers by a River’. The Art Institute of Chicago.

August 27, 2026.Reading time less than 1 minute.

. Tom often cites this 1917 painting by Matisse (with a nod to Cezanne’s ‘Large Bathers” 1905) as a major inspiration both thematically and compositionally.

“Day of the Arrows” 1990 – oil and gilding on canvas “114 x 168” – rolled and shipped by art handlers from the studio in Floyd, VA to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts collection in Richmond, VA.

December 27, 2025.Reading time less than 1 minute.

In the studio; 2025.

July 17, 2025.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Studio Tour, January 28, 2021

February 6, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Interview @Firehouse Gallery 2015

October 3, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Tom Nakashima on Vimeo. (click image to view player)

“Hugo at Birth” 1995

May 9, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Oil on canvas, 14” x 12”. Collection of Hugo Nakashima Brown, Austin, TX. Hugo was my 1st grandchild. I have always thought that children are most interesting at birth. They still carry echos of their past life. This was taken just minutes after Hugo was born and he looks more like a grouchy old […]

“Gail’s Wigwam and Tree” 1993

May 9, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Oil and mixed media on paper, 24” x 18”. Collection of Gail and John Enns, Monterey CA.

“Ghost Woman with Disc” 1995

May 9, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Oil & gilding on fusuma (Japanese sliding screen) 87 ¼” x 56 ¾” (each panel).

Series: “Memories of Childhood” 1994

April 29, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

From left to right, top to bottom: 1. “Eyes”, 2. “On Being – an Indian”, 3. “Sick Salmon on Snake River” 4. “Horse and Square”, 5. Berry Pies in Canada”, 6. “Grandpa’s Samurai Sword”, 7. “The Boy Who Drowned”, 8. “Crazy Man”, 9. “Trinity Mystery”, 10. “Ringworm Day”. Oil on Canvas, each 16″ x 16″. […]

“Martyr & Cage” (dyptich) 2019

October 5, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I 1st used the chicken cage image as a metaphor for Minidoka and other internment (concentration) camps. There was this bullshit excuse that my relatives were interned to “protect” them from the anger of other Americans. It’s like saying we put chickens in cages to protect them from the fox. I think of the figure […]