Yoda, Junko

Other Names: 依田順子

"In 1966-67, I saw an exhibition called 'Two Decades of American Painting' (an exhibition selected by Waldo Rasmussen, The Museum of Modern Art, New York) at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.

I had a great shock from that exhibition. All the paintings were [a] totally different type of art that I hadn’t seen before. I told my parents that I am leaving for New York for two years. It was in 1969. Since then I have been here in New York for 36 years.

I use rice paper as my main material. Among abstract paintings, there are many works that were inspired by landscapes. I like looking down at landscapes, specially, boundless ocean and river flow on the earth. They give me so much energy and freshness when I introduce them into my paintings.

Recently, I started to make installations, because I had a feeling that I needed a much more direct way to express myself.

I have been making small seashell sculptures with papier mache since the summer of 2003. There will be one thousand pieces.

For 'Ice Floe' 2004, in the winter of 2003, I saw the frozen Hudson River in downtown Manhattan.

I tried to capture the spirit of the city’s mysterious frozen river. I use the seashell sculptures and a sheet of plexiglass.

For 'Waves' 2005, I used [layers] of lace and 300 small shell sculptures for this installation."

Junko Yoda, Artist Statement, 2005

Gallery of Selected Works

Waves (2005) Ice Floe (2004) Untitled #P-17 (2002) Untitled #S-9 (2002) Window #3 (2002) Untitled #P-7 (1998) Untitled (Susquehanna River) (1993) Gowanus Bay (1991) Rapids (1987) Untitled #4 (1982)