Winter in Green 1970

Hiroyuki Tajima made this print called ‘Winter in Green’ in 1970, and I can only imagine him wrestling with the matrix – the block from which the print came. The dominant colors are greens, of course, but there is a ghostly blue form that could be icicles, or…who knows! What did Tajima see? The composition is divided into two uneven parts, with the top being a riotous field of textures and colors, with a stark contrast to the solid dark green below. It’s all about the surface. I think of other printmakers like Dox Thrash and the artists at the WPA who were trying to capture the times. Tajima seems to be more introspective, though. What was he thinking? I’d love to have been a fly on the wall in his studio, watching him work. We are all connected, influencing each other across time. Each artwork is a conversation, an exchange of ideas. It’s an ongoing ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.