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Shinoda Toko is a leading figure in Japanese Abstract art, who is famous for her blend of traditional calligraphy and abstract art. Shinoda was encouraged to study calligraphy in her younger days, as such profession was one of the few kinds that Japanese women would be respected at the time. However, her rebellious mind distracted her from going onto the conventional path – she sought for a nontraditional yet tangible expression to demonstrate her inner self. Nonetheless, the traditional training left strong impact in her artistic language. Shinoda is fascinated with Sumi (India ink), and she masters in employing degrees of blackness. Yohaku (empty space) is an Asian rooted idea, which she uses to achieve spatial balance and demonstrates the tension between existing elements. She employs traditional techniques and transforms them into modern abstractionism language.
The result of her Eastern-Western merge was successful. Shinoda was once represented by the legendary dealer Betty Parsons when she landed in New York in 1956. The universal artistic language Shinoda creates brought her enormous commercial traffic, as well as great academic attention. Toko Shinoda exhibited at various renowned institutions, such as Guggenheim Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Singapore Art Museum and The Museum of Modern Art in New York.