ARTISANworks welcomes artist Midori Toda of Japan for her solo exhibition Living Waters on May 1st

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Midori Toda, a Japanese artist specializing in the traditional painting styles and media of her native country, will travel to Rochester for a solo exhibition at ARTISANworks. The exhibit, titled Living Waters after the artist’s involvement with the spiritual symbolism of water, features large scale paintings executed with natural pigments.

Ms. Toda, a resident of Tokyo, was educated as a designer at Joshibi Junior College of Art and Design. An innate interest in historically traditional Asian painting techniques led the artist through extensive exploration and mastery of the natural media. She specializes in the use of ground pigments such as oyster and malachite. Her work, like the earthen painting medium, reflects the cyclicality of the spiritual and physical human experience. In 1993, Ms. Toda was the recipient of the prestigious IBM Art Scholarship at The Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo. Additionally, she was awarded the Grand Prize at The museum’s 10th Annual Grand Prize Exhibition. Her work has made international appearances, most recently at the Toronto Art Expo. Living Waters will be the artist’s first large-scale solo exhibition in the United States.

Living Waters explores the universal symbolism of water as a healing power. Large painted panels depicting the surface of rippling streams include reflections of the natural world, and leave room for viewers to seek their own spiritual mirror image. Ms. Toda expresses that her pieces are not “confined”, but rather completed with room for viewers to draw their own self-related conclusions. Living Waters features not only waterscapes, but also pastels, India ink landscapes, traditional flower paintings, and figure sketches.

ARTISANworks invites the community to attend the exhibit opening for Midori Toda’s Living Waters on Friday, May 1st. The reception, scheduled to run from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, will feature live Japanese Koto music and dancing performances, as well as a short video documentary about the artist and her work. The celebration will include food and beverages. The Rochester Japanese Association will join ARTISANworks in welcoming Ms. Toda, her family, and friends.

Viewing Hours and Admission
Exhibit Reception on Friday, May 1st, 6pm-9pm
On display in the Workshop Hallway through Sunday, September 6th
Fridays, 11am – 6pm
Saturdays, 11am – 6pm
Sundays, 12pm-5pm
$12 Adults, $8 students and seniors, members free

Printed from the Artisan Works website Press Room, visit artisanworks.net.