#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
#define DEBUG_MODE
#define endl '\n'
#ifdef DEBUG_MODE
#define DEBUG(X) debug_func(X, #X)
#define DEBUG_ENDL endl << flush
#define DEBUG_SEPARATOR_LINE cout<<"=================\n"
#else
#define DEBUG(X) 0
#define DEBUG_ENDL 0
#define DEBUG_SEPARATOR_LINE 0
#endif
#define ALL(V) (V).begin(), (V).end()
#define ALLR(V) (V).rbegin(), (V).rend()
#define DEBUG_ENDL_S(S) ((S).size() ? "\n" : "") << flush;
template <typename T> using V = vector<T>;
template <typename T> using VV = V<V<T>>;
template <typename T, typename U> using P = pair<T, U>;
using ll = int64_t;
using PLL = P<ll, ll>;
template <typename T> const T& var_min(const T &t) { return t; }
template <typename T> const T& var_max(const T &t) { return t; }
template <typename Head, typename... Tail> const Head& var_min(const Head &head, const Tail&... tail) { return min(head, var_min(tail...)); }
template <typename Head, typename... Tail> const Head& var_max(const Head &head, const Tail&... tail) { return max(head, var_max(tail...)); }
template <typename T, typename... Tail> void chmin(T &t, const Tail&... tail) { t = var_min(t, tail...); }
template <typename T, typename... Tail> void chmax(T &t, const Tail&... tail) { t = var_max(t, tail...); }
void debug_func_preffix(const string &s) { if(s.size()) cout << s << " = "; }
template <typename T>
void debug_func(const T &t, const string &s = "") {
    debug_func_preffix(s);
    cout << t << DEBUG_ENDL_S(s);
}
template <typename T, typename U>
void debug_func(const P<T, U> &p, const string &s = "") {
    debug_func_preffix(s);
    cout << "(";
    debug_func(p.first);
    cout << ", ";
    debug_func(p.second);
    cout << ")" << DEBUG_ENDL_S(s);
}
template <typename T>
void debug_func(const V<T> &v, const string &s = "") {
    for(ll i = 0; i < v.size(); i++) {
        string t = s + "[" + to_string(i) + "]";
        debug_func(v[i], t);
    }
}

void init_io() {
    cin.tie(0);
    ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
    cout << fixed << setprecision(30);
}

int main() {
    init_io();
    ll N, M, A, B;
    cin >> N >> M >> A >> B;
    V<string> vs(N, string(M, '.'));
    if(N & 1) {
        for(ll i = M - 1; i - 1 >= 0  && 0 < A; i -= 2) {
            vs[N - 1][i - 1] = '<';
            vs[N - 1][i] = '>';
            A--;
        }
    }
    if(M & 1) {
        for(ll i = 0; i + 1 < N && 0 < B; i += 2) {
            vs[i][M - 1] = '^';
            vs[i + 1][M - 1] = 'v';
            B--;
        }
    }
    ll ulh = 0, ulw = 0;
    ll rdh = N / 2 * 2, rdw = M / 2 * 2;
    ll empty_l = -1, empty_u = -1;
    while(1) {
        bool update = false;
        ll hl = rdh - ulh;
        ll wl = rdw - ulw;
        do {
            if(2 <= wl && hl <= A) {
                for(ll i = 0; i < rdh && 0 < A; i += 1) {
                    vs[i][rdw - 2] = '<';
                    vs[i][rdw - 1] = '>';
                    A--;
                    update = true;
                }
                rdw -= 2;
                break;
            } else if(A > 0) {
                if(vs[0][0] != '.') break;
                empty_l = 0;
                empty_u = 0;
                for(ll i = 0; i < rdh && 0 < A; i += 1) {
                    vs[i][0] = '<';
                    vs[i][1] = '>';
                    A--;
                    empty_u++;
                    update = true;
                }
                ulh += 2;
                ulw += 2;
                break;
            }
            if(B) {
                if(vs[0][rdw - 1] != '.') break;
                for(ll i = 0; i + 1 < rdh && 0 < B; i += 2) {
                    vs[i][rdw - 1] = '^';
                    vs[i + 1][rdw - 1] = 'v';
                    B--;
                    update = true;
                }
                rdw -= 1;
                break;
            }
        } while(false);
        if(update) continue;
        else break;
    }
    if(empty_l != -1) {
        for(ll upper = empty_u; upper + 1 < N; upper += 2) {
            for(ll j = 0; j <= 1 && 0 < B; j++) {
                if(vs[upper][j] == '.' && vs[upper + 1][j] == '.') {
                    vs[upper][j] = '^';
                    vs[upper + 1][j] = 'v';
                    B--;
                }
            }
        }
    }
    if(A > 0 || B > 0) {
        cout << "NO\n";
    } else {
        cout << "YES\n";
        for(const auto &s : vs) cout << s << endl;
    }
    return 0;
}


Measured memory_bytes: 2304