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篠田 桃紅
Shinoda was born into a wealthy family in Dalian, Manchuria, where her father managed a tobacco factory. Two years later, her family returned to Japan. Influenced by her father's love of sumi ink painting, calligraphy and Chinese poetry, Shinoda practiced calligraphy from the age of six. An artistic streak ran in her family, and her great uncle, a carver who fashioned the inkan (personal seal) of Emperor Meiji, passed on a love of poetry and calligraphy through her father.
Toko was taught calligraphy by her father. She had formal classes in calligraphy in her primary school, where her teacher used vermilion to correct the little girl's sumi brushwork.
In 1940, Shinoda had her first solo exhibition at Kyukyodo Gallery. She began working on abstract paintings in sumi by 1945. Shinoda traveled the United States from 1956 to 1958. She came into contact with the works of Jackson Pollock, which left a deep impression on her. She moved beyond traditional calligraphy towards an expressive, abstract style. During her time in the United States, she had a number of exhibitions, which helped to make her name. Her works were bought by a number of high-profile collectors. Shinoda also became involved in the abstract expressionist movement of the time.
She returned to Japan and continues to work. She considers herself as not belonging to a particular school or style, but works all by herself. The artist prefers her paintings and original drawings, because sumi ink presents unlimited color spectrum. Her paintings are primarily monochromatic, using sumi black, with some use of cinnabar, gold, silver, or platinum. In printmaking, Shinoda uses lithograph as her medium. Unlike woodcut that requires chisel, or etching that requires acid, lithograph allows Shinoda to work directly and spontaneously on the plate with her fluid brushstroke.
Shinoda’s strokes are meant to suggest images and vitality of nature. Shinoda's print editions are small, usually ranging from twelve to fifty-five, and after each edition has been pulled, she often adds a stroke or two of sumi color by hand to each print. She also created sliding doors with abstract blocks called Hi-fu-mi-yo in 1991 for the Zōjō-ji in Tokyo. Her piece "Evolution" in 1996 which is a three-dimensional work created out of wood, painted in sumi ink.
Shinoda's works are collected by numerous private collectors and public galleries and museums, notably Museum of Modern Art in New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Metropolitan Museum in New York, National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, British Museum in London, Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Smithsonian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, Singapore Art Museum in Singapore, National Museum of Singapore, Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Brooklyn Museum in New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, and Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven.
Toko Shinoda is widely recognised as one of Japan’s greatest painters of the twentieth century. She first came to prominence in the 1960’s and 1970’s when she was discovered by the influential art dealer Betty Parsons. Toko Shinoda is best known for sumi ink paintings and prints that blend traditional calligraphy with Modern abstraction. In 2005, Toko Shinoda was selected among the “100 Japanese People the World Respects” by Newsweek (Japanese edition).
For her, expression is love. She considers however that she has not yet been able to convey that expression. She has been quoted as not being satisfied in finding that perfect line in her work.
Quotations:
“Certain forms float up in my mind’s eye. Aromas, a blowing breeze, a rain-drenched gust of wind…the air in motion, my heart in motion. I try to capture these vague, evanescent images of the instant and put them into vivid form.”
“I don’t paint on any regular schedule, just when the mood strikes me. 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.”
“I never married and have no children and I suppose that it sounds strange to think that my paintings are in place of them - of course they are not the same thing at all. But I do say, when paintings that I have made years ago are brought back into my consciousness, it seems like an old friend, or even a part of me, has come back to see me.”
“Every morning, I pick up a brush and do some work, even just a little bit. Without it, I wouldn’t feel quite alive, or I wouldn’t feel like I should be living without doing some work. You could say it’s a sense of responsibility. It’s the proof that I am alive.”
Toko has remained unmarried and considers herself as married to her work.
