Aja Kusama
Oil on canvas, 120x120cm.
*Though not visible on this reproduction, there is a matrix of clear, embossed dots on the surface.

A mash-up of the Steely Dan album cover for Aja, in which Japanese model Sayoko Yamaguchi (as photographed by Hideki Fujii) has been replaced with Japanese artist Yoyoi Kusama, who (at the time of this mash-up) had just set the auction record for the highest price achieved by a living female artist.

This piece, along with Moving Pictures (Ryden), marks a departure from the other works in the High Fidelity series, and sets the stage for the large, fully painted works that became the Dancing with Architecture series. Though not abstract, the move away from strictly musical reference established a bridge between the two bodies of work.