Circus Girl 1945

Yasuo Kuniyoshi captured this circus girl with paint and what looks like pastel, the marks are soft but assertive. It's interesting how the solidity of the figure dissolves into the background; there’s a kind of ambiguity between figure and ground as if she’s emerging out of the very space around her. The pastel marks around the figure’s edge have a dry, chalky texture, which contrasts with the fluid washes of color in the background. This is like a push and pull, a dance between control and letting go, and that mirrors the life of a painter. Kuniyoshi reminds me of Marsden Hartley, who was also obsessed with the circus, and the everyday. He shows us that art is not about answers, but about the questions we ask along the way.