Sarah Igarashi
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program presents the Douglas S. Yamamura Scholarship each year to up to two outstanding undergraduate students enrolled in any field of study who are engaged in UROP-funded research and creative work projects. The scholarship was established with a generous endowment from the estate of Paul T. Yamamura. In an effort to support continued education of local students, preference is shown to undergraduate students who have graduated from a high school in Hawai‘i.
The AY20-21 Douglas S. Yamamura Scholarship recipient for a non-STEM project is Sarah Igarashi.
Sarah’s project entitled “Queering the Abstract Figure: Ambiguous Bodies in the Art Work of Christina Quarles” examines Quarles' work, which uses biomorphic abstraction to explore themes of identity, through both queer theory and art historical lenses. In order to fully research this work, Sarah plans to travel to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago to view the upcoming exhibition entitled “Christina Quarles” (pending the lifting of restrictions on travel). Sarah graduated from Mililani High School and is now a student of Art History at UHM mentored by Dr. Jaimey Hamilton Faris in the Department of Art and Art History.
"By exploring ways in which these societal actors define and disrupt barriers and categories in visual representations of the body, I hope to bring to light an emerging conversation about the productivity and limitations of representational strategies of gender and identity fluidity in contemporary painting."
– Sarah Igarashi
Read more about Douglas Yamamura and why his family established this wonderful scholarship
Questions? / More Information
If you would like to learn how you can support UH students and programs like this, please contact us at 808 376-7800 or send us a message.
