We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Kobayashi Woods. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.
Hi Emily, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
The hardships that I have gone through let me find my purpose. I grew up in a sheltered home where sex, alcohol, drugs, and politics were not talked about. I went to a conservative private K-8 school where they told us that women could not be pastors, and to never deny our faith even if a gun were put to our head and asked if we were Christian. After completing the 8th grade, I went to a public high school in a wealthy white area. My mom is Japanese and we lived comfortably close to the high school. My first semester at a public school was fairly normal, but then my second semester of my freshman year is when my journey took a dark turn into self destructive behavior.
I started dating a boy (I’ll refer to him as Chad). Chad was a bad boy, he was exciting, and I thought I could change him. I thought that if he met the right girl he would want to act different. He never did, but I slowly became a manipulated, depressed teenager that hated school. Chad was not a nice person to my friends at the time and they slowly distanced themselves from me. I became more isolated with a person who emotionally and sexually abused me. We were together and communicating for about two years, and seven years later he continues to try to communicate with me through social media accounts, friends, and family.
During this time while in high school, I had no idea the mental toll that this had on me. I was crying in classes, shunned by peers, teachers, and administration. The high school that Chad and I originally went to did not care about the girlfriend of a boy who was constantly suspended and rude to everyone around him. I went down a dark path through two other toxic relationships. I was very depressed throughout high school, but the people that saved me were the teachers.
I had a few amazing, passionate teachers (at the two other high schools I went to) who were interesting, caring, and loved what they did. These teachers gave me a purpose to be an educator. They allowed me to forget about the terrible things happening at home. I want to be those teachers for my students as an art educator.
Through traumatic events that I have experienced and seeing what others experience in America, I found my purpose for creating art as well. I found my calling in the summer of 2020. After the murder of George Floyd, I started going to protests in and around Denver when I learned about Elijah McClain. McClain’s story was eerily similar to Floyd’s and I could not believe what had happened in my own state.
I continued to go to protests and learned more about the different perspectives and cultures of the people who are marginalized in this country. I have since created artwork about social justice issues. I have tried to the best of my ability to tell the stories and show perspectives of the people in America who have been discriminated against since the birth of this country.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am currently a visual art teacher at a K-8 school in Denver. I am in my second full year of teaching and I know that this is what I was meant to do. The work is tiring and draining, but it is also some of the most rewarding. Right now I am getting my masters degree in K-12 art education to further my study and learn how to educate students to the best of my ability.
My artistic work continues to focus on those who experience oppression and discrimination in America. I focus on women’s rights, the LGBTQ community, the rights of immigrants, police brutality, and gun violence. My goal is to create emotional visuals to tell a story. I do this through my subject matter, realism, and titles to create a narrative.
My work is unique because of the intensity. I want my viewers to feel the need to act upon these issues that we face in America. I hope that my artwork inspires those to fight for the rights of the oppressed and create change in today’s America.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Empathy, Hope, Courage
These three qualities have impacted me the most on my journey thus far. Being able to understand why someone is feeling something, and why they are acting or reacting a certain way, can make a very big difference in how you perceive them. When I see students who are tired, frustrated, unmotivated, or acting out, there is always a reason. I try to understand where students and people are coming from because when I was young not many people showed me empathy or tried to understand me. As I continue to grow, I have figured out that hope has pushed me through some of the hardest times in my life. I needed to know that everything would get better. I needed to know that my intense emotions would pass. During times like these I also needed courage. Courage allowed me to keep going. Courage allowed me to sit with what I was feeling and endure pain so that I would be their for others.
My advice comes from a survivor perspective. If you are struggling, if you feel like no one would care if you were gone, please seek help. Mental health is vitally important for survival. You cannot be happy and healthy without having a stable social-emotional well-being. Through therapy and the support of friends or family, happiness and stability is out there. Also for anyone who does not know if a friend, family member, or partner is toxic, if they do not respect you for who you are or your boundaries, leave them. This life is too short to waste time with people who do not care about you.
Suicide Hotline: 988
Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Through surrounding myself with people that love and accept me for who I am, I am beginning to find myself. My past partners created this sense of self doubt and self hatred in the things they said and did towards me. “I don’t feel comfortable being seen with you when you wear that.” Referring to my press on nails, “Your nails look like sh*t.” These are just a few of the things I would hear about my appearance. From other partners, I was not allowed to have friends that were guys. If I wore something pretty and put on makeup I was always trying to look good for other men. I did not realize how much I tried to morph myself into someone that they approved of. I was not my true self. Colored hair, piercings, and tattoos were all unacceptable. Now I am able to be who I really am because of the people that I surround myself with. I am still working on being comfortable with myself and find confidence, but the people who are around you make a big difference.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kobayashiwoods.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/303kobayashi_art/
