[Audio Guide]
Purple lines undulate over a pale yellow and green background. Trees and a human figure dotting the surface have mirror images below them, as if reflected on the surface of water. Curves winding through the space and repeating shapes resonate with the bodily vibrations and footsteps we can imagine from the shape of the running figure, giving the work a sense of movement and rhythm. Maruyama Naofumi works with the technique of staining, in which paint soaks into unprimed cotton. If a thin layer of water is spread on the cotton before paint is applied with a brush, the colors bleed. Maruyama superimposes this working method and the watery-looking scenery depicted here, exploring the richness of imagery that is recognizable and yet ambiguous.
[Audio Guide]
There is a person rowing a boat on the righthand side of this picture and a reflected image beneath. The yellow line in the upper section likely represents the opposite shore. Are the thick green spots in the lower part of the painting surface that spread across the left side depicting trees on the shore? What are the different colored spots fluttering about here and there? Perhaps they represent light reflected in the surface of the water. In this work, dissolved acrylic paint has been thinly painted on damp cloth. These pigments stain the fabric, and there is no fixed point for the viewer’s focus as the outlines in the work are unclear. If we subtracted the boat, there would be no depth to the work, and it would become colors scattered across a flat canvas. Though there is some intimacy to this ambiguous expression, at the same time we feel a sense of isolation, as we are unable to enter the world of this picture.
