EXHIBIT: Tomomi Ono - FROM THE SURFACE OF A STONE

Tomomi Ono's starting point is the completely smooth and flat surface of a lithographic stone from a quarry in Italy. After each edition is finished, she razes the image from the stone and patiently sands it down to its neutral state in order to start the next drawing for the next edition of prints. Often, however, the next drawing is but a new layer on top of the first. 

Depending on your point of view, this is either unnecessary torture or a practice deeply rooted in history with significant meaning and satisfaction; a process humbly in harmony with the laws of nature as opposed to our seeming defiance of those laws via computer software.

The foundation of Ono’s art is depiction of nature. She believes the landscape and cultural background of her native country, Japan, have influenced her artistic views. She attaches importance to space and simplicity, and embraces a philosophy that celebrates the boundlessness of nature over the transience of individual life. All of her images imply the presence of life, and she wants the viewer to feel part of it. Ono lately focuses on the themes of “sky”. The stars are depicted very subtly, so faintly that the viewer needs to look closely to find them. In reality, the stars in the day sky are not visible in the daylight. But they exist all the same. 

In her decades of practice in printmaking, she developed an original style in lithography characterized by extremely delicate modeling and coloring. “Creation is part of my life. It grows with myself. And the art of printmaking is a process of discovery, and a process to create layers of harmony. I keep layering colors until the image grows and fuses into my soul.”

Born in Kyoto, Japan, Tomomi Ono spent her formative years in Japan, Spain, and the United States where she developed a unique style in lithography. Currently she lives and works in Brooklyn and serves as a master printer at the Art Student’s League of New York. www.monoprints.com/ono