Toko Shinoda Art Month 2019: Traces of Sumi and Moonlight

About the Exhibition

Even after her shift in mode of expression from calligraphy to abstract art, the shapes of characters never ceased to fascinate Toko Shinoda. The planes and lines of sumi extending over the white space of the washi paper resonate together, creating a quietly unfolding world. There, characters that are no longer symbols of meaning take abstract form—Toko’s unique way of expression that originates in calligraphy but transcends it.

The present exhibition focuses on the form of a kanji character that appears in Toko’s ink painting (suiboku). A single character, “the moon,” written in fine and flowing lines, is the core of the painting, and where it interacts with a pungent sumi plane, a pleasing tension arises. The exhibition introduces Toko’s forms of the heart skillfully captured even as they are in constant flux.