Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 116.5 x 91 cm (45 5/8 x 35 in.)
Acquired from The Loop Gallery, 2022
This work depicts the bold transformation on the composition of tropical plants. Although it is instantly recognizable that plants are being depicted, they appear to be far from realistic. They have been turned into simplified forms with more vivid colors. Watabe has accurately captured the natural characteristics and properties of the subject, and while deciding whether those elements must remain in the painting, she rearranged the forms and color. Realistic paintings are created without making such choices as much as possible and she attempted to depict the subject matter truthfully. Watabe’s works go beyond the threshold of the composition of what is generally regarded as figurative art and she goes slightly towards the direction of geometric abstraction. The exquisite sense of balance is what makes Watabe’s works shine out.
