Work 2009

Tsuruko Yamazaki made this blue artwork called "Work" with synthetic resin paint, and it's all about process, about what happens when you let the materials do their thing. Look at how the blue paint spreads and pools, creating these translucent layers, the way it stains the canvas! It's like watching watercolours bleed, but with a kind of intense, artificial glow. See how in the upper right corner, the paint pulls away from the edge, leaving these little islands of bare canvas? It reminds me that even in abstraction, there's always a push and pull, a conversation between intention and accident, control and surrender. There's something about the way Yamazaki embraces the fluidity of the material that feels so radical and free. It’s a bit like Helen Frankenthaler, but with a Japanese sensibility, a kind of zen-like approach to letting go and seeing what emerges. It shows us that art isn't just about making something, but about witnessing the unfolding of a process, embracing the unexpected, and finding beauty in the in-between spaces.