couleur complémentaire

≪couleur complémentaire≫, painted in August 2021, was inspired by the Polish artist Władysław Strzemiński. I knew him from Powidoki, the posthumous work of another Polish master, Andrzej Wajda. From him I learnt about the depth of colour, that colours have meaning, and that by understanding and using their usage and relationships, we can express more on canvas.

The title,≪couleur complémentaire≫, means 'complementary colour' in French and refers to the relationship between two colours. When two complementary colours of paint are mixed, they become grey, a combination that best reflects each other.

I deliberately did not use the red colour in ≪couleur complémentaire≫. When I painted this painting in 2021, the state of emergency had been declared in my country, Japan, which was heavily affected by COVID-19. I used light blue（turquoise blue）, the complementary colour to red, to express the atmosphere of people disappearing from the city and the loss of vitality, as well as to represent the afterimage of a more devastating and bloody red colour. However, it depicts the fact that the landscape is still beautiful.