The Incredible Artist with Down Syndrome: 3 Special Things About The Calligraphy of Shoko Kanazawa
Shoko Kanazawa, a Japanese artist with down syndrome who is said to shine like the moon, is one of Japan’s renowned and contemporary calligraphers. She is popularly known as the artist with down syndrome, and her art explores the innocent and spiritual. She is known for often praying to the spirit of her late father before dipping her brush into her metallic bowl and attempting to paint anything.
Kanazawa paints large-scale, with her paintings spanning across walls, and they appear in the form of clouds and spirits merging into each other, made through ink and the deliberate dance of her brush against papers and walls. Her art speaks to everyone, especially those with troubles in their heart, looking for something to soothe them. For Shoko Kanazawa, her calligraphy is a way to give back to life what mother nature has given her.
Her talent was discovered at age five when her mother, a former calligraphy teacher and student, took Shoko Kanazawa lessons at home. Within a few years, in 2005, she was good enough to start exhibiting her work at temples, especially the one in Kyoto. The title of her first exhibition was “The World of Calligraphy,” It featured some of her earliest works and was organized in honor of her father’s wish to exhibit her works when she turned 20.