Fumiyo Yoshikawa: Contemplations in Ink

2nd Floor Gallery

January 31-june 15, 2020

Three abstract pieces in black ink and soft colors, all displayed in black frames with white matting.

View of a long wall featuring abstract ink work in black and soft colors on canvas and other media of varied shapes and sizes.

Hallway intersection draped in garlands of white material.

A panel describing the artist's work next to a colorful ink drawing.

View along a wall featuring multiple framed ink drawings.

Fumiyo Yoshikawa’s paintings—demonstrating both a restraint and liberation of the brush— maintain a quiet emptiness balanced by bold strokes, washes, and layers of ink. Yoshikawa’s work revisits both the philosophical and formal elements of Chinese and Japanese traditional sumi-e painting. Recalling the contemplative resonances of the centuries old tradition, these paintings are a physical manifestation of Confucian, Daoist, and Buddist concepts of nature, vitality, and the ephemeral quality of existence. Some works reference calligraphic strokes, while other forms are more abstract, both of which serve as thoughtful meditations on unity, balance, and space.

While in dialogue with a long-standing tradition, Yoshikawa’s work also offers an internal dialogue with the self, as her larger abstractions explore the dream-like landscape of her subconscious. Repetitive patterning and concentric circles echo a universal memory or consciousness, reinforced by Yoshikawa’s previous studies in parallel patterns and symbols drawn from ancient Central American and Japanese art. Yoshikawa’s paintings in this exhibit are an expressionist expansion of elemental forms, revitalizing and contemporizing a practice dating back to the 7th century.