Letter from a Friend

To my dear friend,

It was during the autumn of 2009 that I visited her for the first time at her studio at No. 50 Moganshan Road. I opened the door and went in inside.

There in a woman swims in full nudity, diving through water which shines with celadon color. And the lotus flower is depicted in all its glory. My heart was captured by this painting. The work conveys a very wonderful intellectual tone and bears similarities to the styles of Matisse.

To the right of this painting hangs another work, this one depicting a woman of leaping in a dance and stylized with free, energetic lines. Opposite of this painting sits a self-portrait of Yelan with a cat resting in her arms. The cat gazes at me as though it is her guardian deity. I became a slave to her paintings at that moment. This was my first encounter with her works.

Her studio seems to be a salon where men of culture gather. In this place no one talks of his own work. Instead, there is much discussion of culture and other enjoyable and interesting topics. In these conversations however, everyone is won over by her quiet, soft and elegant wording. Through her warm and gentle character she attracts people from all classes of society. She is full of curiosity and she acts in accordance with her beliefs and her sense of values. She is very strong person.

The dominant characteristics of her paintings are line and color. The line she paints find velocity and soon a transformation of the velocity induces acceleration. Before long, the lines change to potential energy and these energies appear in space. The maintain their energy in an underwater abyss shining with celadon color. Shortly after the colors change into kinetic energy of red and pink and suddenly burst into the atmosphere. I feel she is struggling to find the meaning of her own existence in these energies. I feel these energies of line and color will release her own existence.

The lotus flower and nude body are motifs frequently used in her works. The motif of the lotus flower represents life to her. The lotus, budding with life, is born anew in her works. The lotuses flourish, their beautiful petals blooming with wonderful life. A lotus leaves a seed, entrusting a life with future, its own life falling into ruin. It is a cycle of life which lotus flowers will follow. This is the transmigration of life.

The nude motif is changing to various styles today, beginning with a dance. I sense that she is going to express a basic emotion through a nude motif, whether it be joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger or anticipation.

Her expression can be understood from her three latest works," I Live in It", "Leaving and Coming", "Where am I". I feel that these works became clearer and more pronounced than her former works on her emotion. I expect her to have a great future.

Your friend,

Miyake Kazuhiko