Grassen uit de hoofdstad Possibly 1905

This is "Grassen uit de hoofdstad" by Goto Ryuko, and although we don't know exactly when it was made, we can appreciate that it's ink on paper. There's something immediately soothing about the symmetrical complexity of the pattern here. It's a little like the cosmos, or the way that grass grows out of control between the cracks in the city sidewalks. When I look closer, I notice that each little dot in the background seems to have been placed with care. The texture is smooth, but the contrast between the dark and light creates a visual vibration, a feeling of movement that makes me think about other process based works like the dot paintings of Yayoi Kusama. Although the script on the front is clear and bold, there's an openness to the image as a whole, which embraces both definition and ambiguity. The pattern repeats but is never quite the same, which suggests that art is always alive, open to possibilities, and resists our attempts to impose a fixed meaning.