Julia Shiota

Profile Photo

Julia Shiota tries to make sense of the world through culture and literature. Find her on Twitter at @julia_megumi or at juliashiota.com.

Stories

Cover Photo: The ghostly image of an empty white room, its window being opened by a hand glowing in the sun.
Solitude Is a Human Presumption

Why can’t we imagine, just for the sake of argument, that a joyful spirit leaves some of themselves behind—an echo of joy in a place they once loved?

May 08, 2020
Cover Photo: A detail of a painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt depicting Aristotle as an old bearded man contemplating a marble bust of Homer, also an old bearded man
How My Mother Protected Us from My Father and Found Solace in Art

My mother described the Rembrandt paintings as her friends. I'd never heard anyone talk about art that way, instilling it with something like a personhood of its own.

Dec 10, 2019