Nativity

Nativity (1955) is a color woodblock print, edition 3 of 30, that takes the birth of Christ as its subject — a remarkable choice for a Japanese-American artist working in a medium associated with Buddhist and Shinto visual culture. Uchima, who was exposed to Christianity through the Japanese-American community in California and through American cultural life more broadly, approaches the Nativity not as doctrinal illustration but as a universal scene of shelter, vulnerability, and new life. The limited edition of 30 prints and the early position (3/30) in the run suggest this was among the first impressions pulled, likely showing the richest ink saturation.