![Yasuyuki Nagasawa, a 25-year-old art major at ULV, is taking a major step in his art. His first time creating a piece on computer, Yasu is very excited, but adds, “The computer is bad for eyes but its really fun. I can’t stand sitting at computer for a long time. [It’s] harder to combine spiritual sense onto computer.” / photo by Ivan Matsumoto](https://lvcampustimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/19941014_CT_2_IM.jpg)
Features Editor
Yasuyuki Nagasawa, known simply as Yasu in the University of La Verne community, plans on graduating this spring. After three years at ULV, the senior art major will finally get his degree.
“I’ve been lazy,” he reasoned. “I didn’t study hard.”
What Nagasawa does not say right away is that he transferred to ULV from Dohto International College in Japan, where he spent most of his life. Although he studied English in school, he described what he learned as “British, old and Shakespearean.” He spoke no American English in 1992 when he first arrived in the United States, and he is still learning.
Neither had Nagasawa studied art before arriving at ULV. He enjoyed drawing as a hobby, but never had the opportunity to take classes.
“I didn’t think about it,” he said on why he chose to attend ULV. “I just came to study art and another culture.”
Now art is a regular part of his life. The Campus Times features Nagasawa’s cartoons on the editorial page every week. Also, he is currently making plans for his senior project.
The project?
“It’s a secret,” Nagasawa said. “Something crazy.”
Nagasawa is not sure of what he will do after graduating, but says he will think of something. Teaching would be an option if he had more experience.
“It’s really hard to teach art because art is very free. You cannot direct a student. There are thousands of possibilities to create. There are no limitations. There is no way to teach,” he explained. He also feels there is no way to define art. “Everyone can do it. Everything is art.”
What Nagasawa would like to do is drift around from country to country as much as he can. He traveled to the Amazon in 1993 and would like to go to Europe next.
“I want to get more culture shocks,” he shared.
The most shocking thing he experienced in the United States was Alcoholics Anonymous. Caught drunk driving his first year here, he had to enroll in the program.
“AA was culture shock. They don’t have that system in Japan,” he said. “I don’t want to to go back [to AA].”
Nagasawa is not ready to move back home, either. He went there in the summer to attend his sister’s wedding. According to him, he is not ready to return because everything is too expensive in Japan, including the food and beer. Also, he finds no motivation there.
However, he does miss the seasons.
“In California, we don’t have so much difference in the seasons. It’s warm through the year,” he said. In his hometown, there was snow in the winter and leaves in the fall. The snow melted in the spring and new life appeared.
He does appreciate California for the people.
“They are more open. The atmosphere is optimistic,” he suggested. “They don’t care about the little things.”
Besides art, Nagasawa said he enjoys fishing. He corrects himself to say he does not really fish. He just sits there with a fishing pole, thinking and drinking, while he sketches the streams, mountains, flowers and fish.
“I’m not sure where [my inspiration] comes from. Somewhere in my body. I don’t know where. I wish I could find it.”
Nagasawa’s favorite things to draw are abstracts, because they are emotional, spiritual and spontaneous. He tells the story of the Red Shoes. It is about a woman who cannot stop dancing when she wears her red shoes. He said he is like that woman when he draws.
“[Art] is a disease I can’t control,” he said.
Tanessa Dillard
