Inner Structure 1954

Kazuo Nakamura made this painting titled Inner Structure with a lovely range of blues and greens. It looks like he built it up layer by layer, a process which to me is a lot like how thoughts or memories accumulate. I love how the surface has these delicate lines that almost feel like cracks, maybe created with a dry brush or a sharp tool dragged through the paint. Look how they create this whole network across the painting, a bit like a map, or even those lines you see on circuit boards. There's a real tension between the calm, cool colors and the almost frantic energy of these marks. It’s as if Nakamura is exposing something usually hidden, those inner workings of thought or feeling. It makes me think a little of Agnes Martin, but where she was aiming for serenity, Nakamura seems to be showing us the messy, complex stuff underneath. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about the ongoing process.