Ryoko Minamitani is holding her first solo show with Cupola Gallery after exhibiting with the gallery over a number of years.
“Her Japanese heritage can be seen in her expressive use of gestural mark making with ink and paint. There is a fluidity and freedom in her bold sweeps of brush or pen and her use of a variety of materials. Whether large or small scale there is an energy and a stillness, if that’s not an oxymoron, in her paintings. I suppose what I am trying to express is that there is clear evidence of the physical human nature of production in the images but the resulting artwork generally emanates calm. The colour blue is also dominant in this body of work.” Karen Sherwood, director & curator
Ryoko says “I believe that we can relax through the ‘Sound of Silence’ in our busy lives. We can hear the “Sound of Silence“ more clearly in nature, away from the thinking.
Applying a fluid technique with acrylic and pigment, the Sumi works describe the feelings when I am listening to the “Sound of Silence.”
SUMI
The Japanese term “sumi” means “black ink”. It indicates one of the art forms in which subjects are painted with black ink in all possible gradations ranging pure black to the lightest shades achievable by dissolving ink in water.