I’m not sure when I first got the idea that I wanted to create an exhibit of images that related to my novel, Gina in the Floating World. I do know that I made my first collage inspired by my novel after it was accepted for publication and that my cover designer, Julie Metz, used some of the elements (the Japanese city and Hokusai’s iconic woodblock print, “The Great Wave”) in this collage to create my book cover. Around that time, I also produced my first Tokyo at night wate

During my stay in Japan several decades ago when I was a bar hostess, I lived in a room over a club. The place had only a toilet and sink downstairs. To bathe properly, I had to use the public bath (sento) nearby. This was a new experience for me, and I was very self-conscious at first, like my protagonist, Dorothy. This communal bathing eventually became an enjoyable ritual that allowed me to de-stress from my work as well as keep clean. "Ofuro," collage by Belle Brett (2019