Yamazaki often used industrial materials or those she found on the street to create abstract pictures, sculptures, and environments. In 1955, after happening upon food cans discarded by American troops stationed in Japan, she glazed the cans in red varnish, producing the first of many pieces she would make using tin. For Work, the artist poured, smeared, and dripped aniline dyes on a thin tin sheet. The shimmering, reflective surface she created oxidized and eroded, becoming a kaleidoscopic mirror in which we glimpse fragments of ourselves and our surroundings.

Gallery label from

2023

Medium Aniline dye on tin
Dimensions 28 7/8 × 32 1/2" (73.3 × 82.6 cm)
Credit Gift of Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Committee on Painting and Sculpture funds, and bequest of the Joan G. Toepfer Trust
Object number 711.2019
Department Painting & Sculpture

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