Show Title:  “Unity Brings Peace”, a combination of printmaking techniques:woodcut, linocut, collograph and silkscreen - and sumi ink

My first reaction was:  Oh no, another exhibit of huge abstracts with hardly anything on them.  Wrong!  As I went through the gallery and looked at each piece, one by one, I found myself becoming intrigued by Mr Yoshiko's style and the subtleties of his designs and use of color and media.  I was pulled into his works, and I began to see more and more content, as well as (the most beautiful aspect in my opinion) more and more mystery. It seemed as if he were giving us just enough information to 'hook us', and then letting us discover the rest of his message on our own.  The first thing that becomes apparent in viewing his work is the richness of the textures, created both by Mr Shimano's weaving of soft colors and the media itself.  It was all that I could do to keep my fingers off of these works, as the sign instructed!  As a printmaker at heart, I wanted to poke them, run my fingers over them and try to determine how the artist made them (No, I didn't..)

A  delicate landscape of leaves in soft colors is the first thing you see in “Wa Issho” (woodcut/linocut/silkscreen), his largest work just to the left of the entrance.  Then as you're looking at it, bits of nature slowly start to emerge from around the leaves – parts of flowers and more leaves,  a few well-placed bright strokes of color: apple green, pink and sky blue, not in contrast, but in complement to the muted blues, greens and rose of the central pattern of leaves.  A very delicate and sophisticated work of art in my opinion.  This one made me think of Japan's parks surrounded by flowering cherry blossoms, with new buds bursting forth in all the corners of nature, waiting to be discovered.  The texture is beautiful. 

The title piece of the show, “Unity Brings Peace”, (woodcut/collograph), seems to embody the main subject of the show: studies of flowers.  Although these appear to be dahlias, the artist uses  hydrangeas throughout  most of the other works, and in the  studies.   I did not like “Unity Brings Peace” or “Patriotism” as much  as the other works, although the title of the first one seems to indicate that it is the inspiration for the show.

My favorite work in the show is “Eternal Home.”  Lovely!  The texture is irresistible – formed both by the soft blend of colors and the media itself.   Hydrangeas seem to be emerging from this piece in different stages, some full, others partial, others nearly unseen, except for a couple of tiny petals – almost as if they were on different levels or planes of existence.  Again the air of mystery: where are these flowers?...where are they coming from?..or where are they going?  They are  beautiful. I found myself wanting  to reach out and gather them up into a bouquet before they disappeared, if indeed that is what was happening.

The two “Menani Street” works, where the artist uses combinations of woodcut, collograph, silkscreen, and sumi ink, show the same beautiful blend of colors and textures typical of all of the works here. The only work that I disliked was: “Three of Us”.  This one disturbs me.  I don't believe this work embodies the same spirit as the rest of the show, which, true to its title, left me with a feeling of peace.  Curiously, my final reaction to these works of art was that the apparently “unfinished” qualities of the subjects, left me not with questions – but answers!