In the Seuil Critique series of the 1980s, Domoto further developed the wave-like patterns that he had explored in the earlier Réaction en Chine series. Repeated S-shaped rhythms, generated by the shifting of circles, are overlaid with rectangular forms, creating a sense of depth and a layered pictorial space.
The origins of the Réaction en Chine series can be traced back to 1957, when Domoto was recuperating on the coast of Sanary-sur-Mer in the Var region of southern France following surgery for kidney stones. There, he became fascinated by the waves breaking along the shoreline. The imagery of ripples and waves that emerged from this experience would continue to appear in many later works, including Trois Carrés (1986), Rectangle dans I’Eau (1986), and Seuil Critique A.B.C.D…… (1987).
Transparent or semi-transparent rectangles are superimposed over ripple-like forms, allowing viewers to perceive the colors and shapes that lie beneath them simultaneously. These rectangles are not merely geometric forms; they generate movement and spatial depth within the composition while merging with the ripples, destabilizing distinctions between foreground and background, surface and depth.
The title Critical Point refers to the threshold at which a nuclear chain reaction can be sustained. a sequence of movement extending from circles to S-shaped forms and then to ripples generates a sense of energy that permeates the entire picture plane. Within the space created by the interplay of ripples and rectangles, a boundary emerges between the visible and the invisible, between what is revealed and what remains concealed. Such a threshold may also suggest layers of memory and sensibility rooted in Domoto’s early training in Nihonga painting.