During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, under the cacophony of sirens, Shimojo turned to this series as a metaphor for our impermanence, and the ephemeral nature of life. In a departure from her previous work, these paintings demonstrate an act of just simply being. They are intentionally devoid of specific stories and personal drama. In an extremely trying moment in history, Shimojo focused on the act of creating.Her intention was to relish each moment, and to be present with the simplicity of her gestures and their outcomes.

Each painting follows the same simple structure: a hand painted line in one Japanese ink color that remains unbroken on the paper. Painted over many days, the lines sometimes appear thick and dense, while in other places the same line may be so fine as to seem on the verge of disappearing. “It’s very personal because in these paintings you witness my biorhythm, my breath, my presence, on each moment of the line,” says Shimojo. “I wanted to be free from the story of my past, to be free from emotional boundaries, to get out of my own story, which in the past I had represented with forms and shapes. My focus here is on the context of time.”

About Unbroken Line's paper
The paper is Mohachi paper, 500g, developed by Mohachi Oki and passed on tograndson Keiji Oki, the third generation Mohachi papermaker. It is an extra heavyweight, yet soft paper. This particular paper was created to cater to needs of modernartists and printmakers, and is the largest size available (31” x 47”). When Oki-sanpassed away in 2017, Yuri Shimojo was able to purchase the last group in stock.