Dilapidated Poetry A 1976

Hiroyuki Tajima made "Dilapidated Poetry A" with a printmaking technique, and this feels like the heart of it. There’s this all-over, earthy, reddish tone that feels like a mood in itself, and within that, forms emerge almost like architectural ruins, or maybe even figures. But it’s the marks, the textures, that really grab me. Notice how the artist hasn’t tried to hide the process; in fact, it’s right there on the surface. Those tiny scratches, the way the ink sits heavy in some areas and light in others, it’s all part of the story. Look closely at the way the blue peeks through the red like a secret code. It reminds me of the work of someone like Antoni Tapies, who also embraced the beauty of decay and the power of simple materials. For me, art is about this ongoing conversation across time, a way of seeing and feeling that’s always open to interpretation.