Winter 2002 Feature

Eiko Shima—An Insight

by Yuki Niino ’02

Eiko Shima, a noted, award-winning Japanese artist, spent the fall semester as artist-in-residence at PMC, and exhibited a collection of her abstract paintings, “Color and Shape: Moments from Forest and Sea,” in the College’s Hess Gallery from mid-October through the end of November. She also gave several lectures on her artwork, her creative process, and the methods and materials that she uses. In addition, she worked with a number of art classes and gave a reading of Japanese folktales to an English class, comparing them with western folktales.

Shima first became acquainted with PMC two years ago, when she went to a lecture by President Gloria Nemerowicz in Japan at the insistence of a friend and PMC neighbor, Atsuko Fish. She was taken by the President’s lecture on inclusive leadership and decided then and there that she would visit the College. The concept of inclusive leadership is closely related to the artist’s belief that “everyone can create his or her own world.”

With unlimited, spontaneous ideas, Shima develops her structural abstract paintings to express her response towards such natural phenomena as wind, forest, and sea. An intense, ten-year, postgraduate study of linguistics has convinced Shima that the structure of language and the idea of her paintings are in perfect harmony. To create her own perspective, she allows her mind absolute freedom, splitting, reversing, and restructuring the images that come to her as she strolls in various natural settings to meditate.

Shima believes that images can change in her mind because she can understand them and the meaning of the words that encapsulate them. This is one of the basic concepts of her structural paintings. The many layers in her painting mirror her personal depth. “I believe in the multiplier effect between experience and imagination,” Shima says. “Both experience and imagination accumulate as time goes by and allow me to see the value and significance of the world that I find myself in.”

Shima got her start as an artist when she was just one year old and her father gave her a set of paints. He was both an otolaryngologist and an amateur painter, and he encouraged her to express herself. She learned to paint without formal lessons or a teacher, and, free from restrictions, she cultivated her own independent style. She learned to concentrate, focus her skills, and eliminate distractions. Shima maintains that “if you force yourself to be quiet and introspective, you will gain enlightenment in time.”

Eiko Shimo and her daughter Himi.

“I paint, not only for myself, but also for others,” Shima points out. “I hope my paintings can be helpful to others because I believe that art transcends everything else.”

Shima matriculated at Keio University, majoring in French literature. At first she thought she would have to give up her painting, but soon she discovered that was impossible. Because she didn’t have her paints with her, she began to experiment with many different media for color, including lipstick and shoe polish. After years of trial and error, Shima developed her own distinct style, using Japanese pigment, sumi ink, Japanese nikawa glue, floss silk, and rice paper as materials to create her abstract paintings. She also often uses white and black as metaphors to express her ideas of inner and outer life and the connection between emotions and the natural world.

Shima has participated in international exhibitions around the world, and her works have won numerous awards. She is married to Dr. Naoki Furuta and has two children, a son, Naoki, who produces documentaries for Japanese television, and a daughter, Himi, who accompanied her mother to PMC.

Shima was deeply impacted by the tragedy of September 11th, and donated all monies received from her Boston sales to a fund for the victims and their families.

Yuki Niino ’02 is a communication major with a broadcasting concentration. She is a native of Saitama Prefecture in Japan. After graduation, she hopes to return to Japan to work in Japanese television as a translator of American TV shows and films.