Unbroken Line
our impermanence and the ephemeral nature of life
Rudy Blue Unbroken Line 途切れない一本の線 Rudy Blue
2022, 27 × 60 inches ( 686 × 1524 mm )
Ink made of Dog’s Blood Serum on Kochi Mashi Washi Paper
Each painting follows the same simple structure: a hand-painted line that remains unbroken on the paper.
In a departure from Shimojo’s previous work, these paintings demonstrate an act of just simply being. They are intentionally devoid of specific stories and personal drama.
She focused on the act of creating. Her intention was to relish each moment. To be present with the simplicity of her gestures and their outcomes.
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.”
Unbroken Line, A Short Film, 2020
During the thick of the Covid-19 lockdown in the summer of 2020, a filmmaker Toddy Stewart donned his protective equipment and joined Yuri in her studio in the East Village. Under the cacophony of sirens, her art has momentarily evolved into a sustained prayer for the environment, the state of the world and her own creative process.