Japanese naturalized Brazilian, Tomie Ohtake is among the most emblematic figures of informal abstraction in Brazil. Drawing from both Western and Japanese traditions, she began as a painter before dedicating herself to engraving and sculpture. If the haiku expresses a vision of the world in seventeen syllables, Ohtake’s art synthesizes forms by reducing the image to its essential minimum. Today her public and private works can be found throughout the city of São Paulo: from the large mosaics on the platform walls of the Consolação metro stop to the ribbon-shaped monument honoring the history of Japanese immigration to Brazil seated next to the Centro Cultural São Paulo.
