Lines and Shapes

About the Exhibition

　Lines gradually become surfaces, and then eventually become shapes

　Shinoda Toko expanded the framework of her art from calligraphy to the abstract, creating works on washi paper made up of continuous lines of sumi ink like dismantled characters. These works result not so much in connected lines as beautiful shapes; they are the product of the process by which her art moved away from the framework of calligraphy and into the realm of the abstract. Over the two years from 1956 before and after her trip to the United States, thick sumi strokes brimming with the rich expressiveness of dark-and-light shades, fades, seeps, and blurs of the ink became the main elements of her works. Gradually her lines fused, forming surfaces, and as surfaces overlapped and lines and surfaces combined, Toko’s refined shapes came into being.
　This exhibit introduces the evolution of lines and shapes free from any constraint, which the artist has pursued throughout her career.