According to a Japanese proverb, nails that stick up are hammered down. ''Whenever I tried something new, I was hammered down," said Mr. Yabe. ''That's why I came to the US." ''He really came here for artistic freedom," said Bill Thrasher of Wellesley, an independent curator who specializes in Japanese art. ''His work had an improvisational quality that is highly desirable." Yabe said, ''There are still things to learn, new things to explore. However, as people age, their perceptions change, and I see Japanese traditions differently now. I don't have to fight traditions, but instead can express myself through it." He began to incorporate elements of the Wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic that embraces the imperfect. ''Wabi-sabi objects are usually kind of ugly, but when you look carefully at the details, you see beauty in the objects. It's quite different from the Western concept of beauty; it's asymmetrical and imperfect, because that's more like nature.
Circa 1980