//#define _GLIBCXX_DEBUG

#include<bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

#define endl '\n'
#define lfs cout<<fixed<<setprecision(10)
#define ALL(a)  (a).begin(),(a).end()
#define ALLR(a)  (a).rbegin(),(a).rend()
#define spa << " " <<
#define fi first
#define se second
#define MP make_pair
#define MT make_tuple
#define PB push_back
#define EB emplace_back
#define rep(i,n,m) for(ll i = (n); i < (ll)(m); i++)
#define rrep(i,n,m) for(ll i = (ll)(m) - 1; i >= (ll)(n); i--)
using ll = long long;
using ld = long double;
const ll MOD1 = 1e9+7;
const ll MOD9 = 998244353;
const ll INF = 1e18;
using P = pair<ll, ll>;
template<typename T1, typename T2>
bool chmin(T1 &a,T2 b){if(a>b){a=b;return true;}else return false;}
template<typename T1, typename T2>
bool chmax(T1 &a,T2 b){if(a<b){a=b;return true;}else return false;}
ll median(ll a,ll b, ll c){return a+b+c-max({a,b,c})-min({a,b,c});}
void ans1(bool x){if(x) cout<<"Yes"<<endl;else cout<<"No"<<endl;}
void ans2(bool x){if(x) cout<<"YES"<<endl;else cout<<"NO"<<endl;}
void ans3(bool x){if(x) cout<<"Yay!"<<endl;else cout<<":("<<endl;}
template<typename T1,typename T2>
void ans(bool x,T1 y,T2 z){if(x)cout<<y<<endl;else cout<<z<<endl;}  
template<typename T>
void debug(vector<vector<T>>&v,ll h,ll w){for(ll i=0;i<h;i++)
{cout<<v[i][0];for(ll j=1;j<w;j++)cout spa v[i][j];cout<<endl;}};
void debug(vector<string>&v,ll h,ll w){for(ll i=0;i<h;i++)
{for(ll j=0;j<w;j++)cout<<v[i][j];cout<<endl;}};
template<typename T>
void debug(vector<T>&v,ll n){if(n!=0)cout<<v[0];
for(ll i=1;i<n;i++)cout spa v[i];cout<<endl;};
template<typename T>
vector<vector<T>>vec(ll x, ll y, T w){
  vector<vector<T>>v(x,vector<T>(y,w));return v;}
ll gcd(ll x,ll y){ll r;while(y!=0&&(r=x%y)!=0){x=y;y=r;}return y==0?x:y;}
vector<ll>dx={1,-1,0,0,1,1,-1,-1};
vector<ll>dy={0,0,1,-1,1,-1,1,-1};
template<typename T>
vector<T> make_v(size_t a,T b){return vector<T>(a,b);}
template<typename... Ts>
auto make_v(size_t a,Ts... ts){
  return vector<decltype(make_v(ts...))>(a,make_v(ts...));
}
template<typename T1, typename T2>
ostream &operator<<(ostream &os, const pair<T1, T2>&p){
  return os << p.first << " " << p.second;
}
//mt19937 mt(chrono::steady_clock::now().time_since_epoch().count());
bool solve1(ll n,ll m,ll a,ll b){
  vector<string>ret(n,string(m,'.'));
  if(n&1){
    rep(i,0,m/2){
      if(a==0)break;
      ret[n-1][2*i]='<';
      ret[n-1][2*i+1]='>';
      a--;
    }
  }
  if(m&1){
    rep(i,0,n/2){
      if(b==0)break;
      ret[2*i][m-1]='^';
      ret[2*i+1][m-1]='v';
      b--;
    }
  }
  rep(i,0,n/2)rep(j,0,m/2){
    if(a>0){
      rep(o,0,2){
        ret[2*i+o][2*j]='<';
        ret[2*i+o][2*j+1]='>';
        a--;
        if(a==0)break;
      }
    }
    else if(b>0){
      rep(o,0,2){
        ret[2*i][2*j+o]='^';
        ret[2*i+1][2*j+o]='v';
        b--;
        if(b==0)break;
      }
    }
  }
  if(a==0&&b==0){
    cout<<"YES"<<endl;
    debug(ret,n,m);
    return true;
  }
  else{
    return false;
  }
}
bool solve2(ll n,ll m,ll a,ll b){
  vector<string>ret(n,string(m,'.'));
  if(n&1){
    rep(i,0,m/2-1){
      if(a==0)break;
      ret[n-1][2*i]='<';
      ret[n-1][2*i+1]='>';
      a--;
    }
  }
  if(m&1){
    rep(i,0,n/2-1){
      if(b==0)break;
      ret[2*i][m-1]='^';
      ret[2*i+1][m-1]='v';
      b--;
    }
  }
  if(n>=3&&m>=3&&(n&1)&&(m&1)){
    if(a>0)ret[n-1][m-2]='<',ret[n-1][m-1]='>',a--;
    if(a>0)ret[n-3][m-3]='<',ret[n-3][m-2]='>',a--;
    if(b>0)ret[n-2][m-3]='^',ret[n-1][m-3]='v',b--;
    if(b>0)ret[n-3][m-1]='^',ret[n-2][m-1]='v',b--;
  }
  rep(i,0,n/2)rep(j,0,m/2){
    if(i+1==n/2&&j+1==m/2)continue;
    if(a>0){
      rep(o,0,2){
        ret[2*i+o][2*j]='<';
        ret[2*i+o][2*j+1]='>';
        a--;
        if(a==0)break;
      }
    }
    else if(b>0){
      rep(o,0,2){
        ret[2*i][2*j+o]='^';
        ret[2*i+1][2*j+o]='v';
        b--;
        if(b==0)break;
      }
    }
  }
  if(a==0&&b==0){
    cout<<"YES"<<endl;
    debug(ret,n,m);
    return true;
  }
  else{
    return false;
  }
}
int main(){
  cin.tie(nullptr);
  ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
  ll res=0,buf=0;
  bool judge = true;
  ll n,m,a,b;cin>>n>>m>>a>>b;
  if(solve1(n,m,a,b))return 0;
  if(solve2(n,m,a,b))return 0;
  cout<<"NO"<<endl;
  return 0;
}

Measured memory_bytes: 2304