New Exhibition
SUMI
Stories Woven Through Ink
Date : December 3-12, 2026
Location : JAGARHAUS
Opening Reception
Date: Thursday, December 3
5pm - 10pm
Curatorial statement
SUMI brings together six artists whose distinct practices reveal the expressive possibilities of sumi ink. Rooted in centuries of calligraphy and painting across East Asia, the medium carries a rich history while continuing to find new forms through contemporary artistic practice. From its absorption into paper to its interaction with canvas and other surfaces, each application reveals different qualities of the medium.
The exhibition grew from an encounter with Mountains and Rivers of Home, a painting by Chung Dong Joo, during curator Saori Shibata's visit to his gallery in Yufuin, Japan. The work's delicate textures, subtle variations of black, and balance between painted forms and empty space stirred an unexpected longing for home. The encounter revealed a different expressive dimension of sumi and inspired Shibata to introduce Chung's work to audiences in Los Angeles. That initial idea eventually developed into this group exhibition.
There is a saying, “Sumi has five colors.” Though seemingly monochromatic, ink can reveal remarkable depth through variations in concentration, the movement of water, and the surfaces it encounters. A mark may be deliberate or spontaneous. Its edges may remain defined or spread beyond the artist's control. On paper, silk, canvas, and other surfaces, these changes become part of the work rather than simply effects of the material.
The six artists bring different experiences and perspectives to the same material. Rather than seeking a single visual language for sumi, the exhibition considers how the medium responds to different intentions, methods, and ways of seeing. Presented alongside one another, these practices retain their individual character while inviting new connections between the works.
Brought together through longstanding relationships, these works reflect different ways of experiencing and interpreting sumi. While each begins with the same medium, what emerges is shaped not only by the artist's intentions, but also by the memories and perceptions viewers bring to the work.
Artists
Sabrina Che
For Sabrina Che, sumi's earthiness and its ability to flow freely while leaving traces behind hold particular significance. A mark becomes a record of the maker in that moment. She considers the time and labor behind sumi's making and the tradition it carries, weaving a poetic thread through time and space.
Her wall talismans, part protective totem and part human circuit, feature running cords of grass rope soaked in sumi, harmonizing aspects of our past and future. In her textiles, photo transfers are stained by the slow absorption of ink into fabric, revealing remnants of time and lived experience.
Kim Cruz
Kim Cruz uses sumi ink on Japanese washi paper to depict floral forms that move between representation and abstraction. Her brushwork shifts from bold, expressive strokes to delicate, fluid marks, allowing variations in ink density and the unpredictable movement of water to shape each composition. Embracing the balance between control and chance, Cruz allows the material to become an active part of her creative process.
Chung Dong Joo
Based in Oita, Japan, Chung Dong Joo moves between traditional calligraphy and experimental approaches to sumi. On washi paper, he transforms calligraphic characters into expressive forms with a sense of personality and life. His Mountains and Rivers of Home evokes an inner landscape through delicate textures and subtle variations in ink. He also combines sumi with acrylic on canvas through his own technique, while his Sazanami series features rhythmic patterns carved with chisels and small knives. Throughout his practice, he seeks light within black, balancing darkness with white space.
Leslie Shapiro Joyal
Leslie Shapiro Joyal combines sumi ink and watercolor with fragments of a treasured notebook in which her uncle wrote down poetry. These handwritten pages become part of her compositions, bringing personal meaning into the work. While sumi has long served as an anchoring element in her paintings, she is now exploring its more spontaneous qualities, allowing the ink to find a bolder, less predictable voice as it interacts with color, paper, and text.
Kim Rose
Known for her signature flowing, layered ink abstractions, Kim Rose first encountered sumi during a three-month artist residency in Kyoto, where she studied traditional techniques. The slow, meditative process of grinding an ink stick with water on stone encouraged her to appreciate the time and intention involved in creating art. For SUMI, she brings this material into her signature flowing patterns, exploring its remarkable tonal range and fluidity.
Tobias Ross-Southall
British artist Tobias Ross-Southall, based in Puebla, Mexico, approaches Sumi Ink through his ongoing exploration of the human figure. Working across surfaces including raw canvas and paper, he uses bold, instinctive gestures to move between figuration and abstraction. His marks suggest bodies in motion, with forms that emerge, shift and sometimes disappear into abstraction.
Discovering Edvard Munch's use of cardboard reinforced his appreciation for the material's rawness, imperfections and immediacy. He now explores the combination of sumi and cardboard for the first time.