Impression of Small Monument 1975

Hiroyuki Tajima made this print, called Impression of Small Monument, using a woodblock. It's cool how he gets all these deep, moody blues, a few olive-golds, and a kind of misty, light blue-grey, like the atmosphere in a dream. I imagine Tajima carefully carving away at the wood, thinking about balance. The way the elements float on the page is really thoughtful. It's like a quiet conversation between shapes and colors. There's a central form that almost looks biological – like cells dividing, surrounded by a hazy glow. I see how these elements – the rectangles, the dots, the organic center – stack up like a memory, each layer holding a different feeling. This reminds me of the Bauhaus artists playing with geometry and also the way Agnes Martin used subtle color to get to these very quiet, contemplative spaces. Artists riff off one another, you know, through the ages. I can really feel Tajima’s presence here, like he’s inviting us to slow down and contemplate something small, something profound.