Shinoda exhibit at Zojoji Temple.
Toko Shinoda
1913 to 2021
To look at a piece of paper--searingly white, unblemished, intimidating--and place your mark on it is, for some, an act of courage, for others, an act of aggression or dominance. When the art of choice is calligraphy, where artists have one chance to lay down their mark, where the paper absorbs the sumi ink and instills its own interpretation to the act of placing an ink-dipped brush on paper, it can be seen as a subtle surrender, an offering to work in tandem with forces beyond our control. In a way, that is the essence of art.
Toko Shinoda was an icon to this interplay.
In her own words:
"You're a dog tethered to a post and able to move only as far as the leash will allow. That's calligraphy.” The Asahi Shimbun.
"Sometimes new forms that I had never thought of until recently seem to come to mind and I try my best to put them down as I see them.” CNN
“It is thus necessary to finish one’s work very quickly. So the composition must be determined in my mind before I pick up the brush. Then, as they say, the painting just falls off the brush.” (NYT)
"Life is like a narrow white road between the river of ice and the river of fire. I am muddling through in search of that road.” Toko Shinoda
"No matter how many works I produce, I still find myself unable to express anything.” Toko Shinoda
LG
Toko Shinoda was an icon to this interplay.
In her own words:
"You're a dog tethered to a post and able to move only as far as the leash will allow. That's calligraphy.” The Asahi Shimbun.
"Sometimes new forms that I had never thought of until recently seem to come to mind and I try my best to put them down as I see them.” CNN
“It is thus necessary to finish one’s work very quickly. So the composition must be determined in my mind before I pick up the brush. Then, as they say, the painting just falls off the brush.” (NYT)
"Life is like a narrow white road between the river of ice and the river of fire. I am muddling through in search of that road.” Toko Shinoda
"No matter how many works I produce, I still find myself unable to express anything.” Toko Shinoda
LG
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