Toko Shinoda

About the Exhibition

No discussion of the work of abstract sumi artist Toko Shinoda can proceed without mention of the element of “space.” Lines in sumi ink over washi paper bring into being white spaces, spaces full of invisible allusion. Empty space is a very familiar aesthetic element in the world of Japanese art. As exemplified by the famous Pine Forest Screens by Hasegawa Tohaku, space harmonizes with the elements depicted in the painting, creating an art of space. Like the aesthetic of petals on the verge of scattering or the beauty of the imperfect or incomplete, the beauty of empty space is especially savored in Japanese culture.
Toko’s works feature spaces and intervals that resonate with her lines in sumi. In those spaces left empty, we can In this exhibit we focus our attention on the beauty that comes into being in the spaces between lines or among the planes of sumi ink in her works.