Toko Series 4: Momo no Fu: TANBOKU Living in Sumi

About the Exhibition

“Toko Series” is a series of exhibitions presenting the life and work of artist Toko Shinoda, each focusing on one of the chapters of the catalogue Shinoda Toko 100 Years: Momo no Fu—Scenes from a Century, published in 2013 to celebrate the her 100th birthday. The fourth and last exhibition of the series, titled “Momo no fu: TANBOKU Living in Sumi,” introduces the beauty of ways that thin ink seeps into washi paper. Among the great charms of Toko’s sumi are the works in thin ink— the overlapping and spreading of thick strokes, the blurring charged by a well-soaked brush, the countless shifting shades rendered by deft movements of the brush. Her forms in sumi ink, inspired by close attention to the passing events of daily life and capturing her subtle sensibilities, are images overlapping with the spirit of the artist herself—images that overwhelm the viewer.