Year: 1984
Medium: watercolor, pastel on paper
Dimensions: 72 x 90 cm (28 3/8 x 35 3/8)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2024
Following the stripes of “Work C” in the 1960s and the grids of “Work D” in the ’70s, Yamada’s works in the ’80s became somewhat larger and included movements emphasizing the brushstroke. The freedom of the brush was restrained to a certain degree in more static compositions featuring stripes or grids, but nothing could be more different in works such as this, where a feeling of dynamism has been liberated through the combined impact of brushwork and color. Here, the use of watercolors results in brightness and transparency to the hues—colors may sometimes overlap, but never appear dark. Pastel lines traverse the expansive, bleeding hues of the watercolors. Perhaps layers of watercolor were applied to subtly follow the pastel lines, preserving the borders without too much blurring. The straight lines form crosses and rectangles, adding a gentle sense of order to this composition of scattered colors. The letter “p” appended to the series name for this decade reflects that this work is on paper.
