Untitled (2 potted plants) 

Kazuo Nakamura, a Japanese-Canadian painter, created this untitled piece with potted plants. Born in Vancouver, Nakamura's family was interned during WWII, an experience that deeply influenced his art. His geometric abstract art developed into a focus on the mathematical structures underlying nature and the cosmos. Here, we see two potted plants, rendered in a style that hints at both realism and abstraction. There’s a sense of quietness, and the interplay between the organic forms of the plants and the geometric patterns in the background is striking. In his work Nakamura maintained that: "Everything is related and we are within that relationship." The painting can be seen as a meditation on the relationship between humanity and nature, and the search for harmony in a world often marked by discord and displacement. It invites us to reflect on our own place within the larger structures of the universe.