Pamela A.Babusci
This series of ekphrastic tanka was inspired by Toko Shinoda, an amazing and important contemporary Japanese artist connected with the Abstract Expressionist movement. Toko Shinoda passed away on the 1st of March this year. This portfolio is a memorial as well as a tribute.
I discovered the beautiful artwork of Toko Shinoda, a Japanese Sumi-e painter while visiting an abstract art site. I was immediately drawn to her simplistic and elegant Sumi-e paintings, so I proceeded to research not only her wonderful art but Toko herself, as a woman. At 107, Toko is still painting. Even though she doesn’t have a strict work schedule, she picks up her brushes daily for inspiration. The best quality Sumi-e ink cakes or sticks are used, some dating back to China’s Ming Dynasty. She creates ink by adding water to her inkstone and grinding the stick until she attains the preferred intensity of black. Toko Shinoda never married or had children but remained steadfast in producing art all her life.
Being deeply inspired by her beautiful art, I decided to compose a series of sumie/acrylic paintings incorporating tanka within them to make a living haiga tribute to her. I was not trying to imitate her style but to express the essence of her esthetic.
The series of paintings were first published in Haiga-on-line: “Washing the Inkstone” Issue spring 2021
Thank you Editor Linda Papanicolaou
