In this self published survey of her works from the 1970s and 1980s, Teruko takes the reader on a visual journey through her long period dedicated to abstract lanscapes. In the prologue, she introduces the reader to her studio practice and motivations to paint the natural world around her; poems written in color as she says. From describing her childhood through adolescence in post World War II Japan where women were expected to wear drab clothes devoid of color. Her resistance, whether self-admitted or not, against the conservative patriarchal society of the times by sewing bright ribbons of color into her drab dress sleeves, Teruko sheds light and color on why she paints what she does.
The reader takes away the subtle analogues between the dsappearing natural world in a world ravaged by war and the loss of biodiversity fueled by modern technological advancement and overconsumption today. Her stories in th e introduction are reflected back to the reader in her works on the proceeding pages as her daily walks to the studio, dedication to studio practice and capturing of world oft taken for granted by the commons at large take form in splashes of color or strokes of a brush across one of the many leaves of BFK Rives or stretched linen in production at any given time. Her story of her youth meandering through the progression of her practice,and the description of the title the 5 seasons, the four we all know and the fifth being Oshogatsu, the new year, and all of it's bright revelry associated with the brief spring within the winter give important context to the expression of her work and the juxtaposition of the tenebrous imagery of her post-war childhood memories against the lucid images of the environment and its explosions of color and light that she longed for as a girl in Japan.
The works appear timeless, poetic and expressive, while still maintaining a refined maturity and focus spanning decades. The reader is afforded a connection with her works in a publication that is straight from the artist's perspective.