Nō, Nō

From Double Tide or Pine Flat, we know of Sharon Lockhart’s attraction to the subject matter of landscapes approached from various angles. Depicted here in a single stroke is the endless and methodical ballet of a couple of Japanese peasants working with rakes in a field. Their comings and goings bringing straw gradually transforms the setting, which fills with bales of straw, which is then spread over the ground. This is a dance in two consecutive movements – the labour enshrined in its specific timeframe and the duly-recorded covering of the ground, much like a canvas, the peasant resembling a painter. (N.F.)