Iris No. 4

Among the earliest entries in Sugiura Kazutoshi's monumental iris series, this fourth iris composition documents the beginning of a project that would eventually encompass more than one hundred and sixty numbered works. At No. 4, the fundamental formal decisions that would govern the entire series are still being made: how much of the pictorial field should the iris occupy? What role should the gold-leaf application play — background, accent, or ground? How should the relationship between the flower's bold forms and the negative space around it be calibrated? These early compositions show an artist defining the terms of a long artistic conversation.