Sprout D

Sprout D is a 1980s woodblock print on paper, the fourth in a series exploring growth and emergence. The title invokes the first visible sign of a plant breaking through soil, and Shinoda translates that upward energy into abstract calligraphic marks. The D designation places it in a sequence alongside other Sprout variations, each presumably approaching the same germinal idea from a different angle. Ink on paper carries a particular rightness for this subject, since both materials derive from plant life, the paper from fiber, the ink from soot, creating a closed loop between medium and meaning.