#include<bits/stdc++.h>
#define sqr(x) ((x)*(x))
#define ll long long
#define ull unsigned long long
#define ui unsigned int
#define ld long double
#define vi vector<int>
#define all(a) a.begin(),a.end()
#define HEAP(...) priority_queue<__VA_ARGS__ >
#define heap(...) priority_queue<__VA_ARGS__,vector<__VA_ARGS__ >,greater<__VA_ARGS__ > > 
#define pii pair<int,int> 
#define pb push_back
#define mp make_pair
#define debuge cerr<<"isok"<<endl
#define debug(x) cerr<<#x<<"="<<x<<endl
#define dprintf(...) fprintf(stderr,__VA_ARGS__)
#define SS second
#define FF first
#define ls (k<<1)
#define rs (k<<1|1)
#define clr(a,x) memset(a,x,sizeof(a))
#define cpy(a,x) memcpy(a,x,sizeof(a))
#define file(x) freopen(x".in","r",stdin),freopen(x".out","w",stdout)
#define SZ(x) ((int)x.size())
using namespace std;
template<class T> inline void gmin(T &x,const T &y){x=x>y?y:x;}
template<class T> inline void gmax(T &x,const T &y){x=x<y?y:x;}
template<class T> inline bool Gmin(T &x,const T &y){return x>y?x=y,1:0;}
template<class T> inline bool Gmax(T &x,const T &y){return x<y?x=y,1:0;}
const int BufferSize=1<<16;
char buffer[BufferSize],*Bufferhead,*Buffertail;
bool Terminal;
inline char Getchar(){
	if(Bufferhead==Buffertail){
		int l=fread(buffer,1,BufferSize,stdin);
		if(!l){Terminal=1;return 0;}
		Buffertail=(Bufferhead=buffer)+l;
	}
	return *Bufferhead++;
}
template<class T>inline bool read(T &x){
	x=0;char c=Getchar(),rev=0;
	while(c<'0'||c>'9'){rev|=c=='-';c=Getchar();if(Terminal)return 0;}
	while(c>='0'&&c<='9') x=x*10+c-'0',c=Getchar();
	if(c=='.'){
		c=Getchar();double t=0.1;
		while(c>='0'&&c<='9') x=x+(c-'0')*t,c=Getchar(),t=t/10;
	}
	x=rev?-x:x;
	return 1;
}
template<class T1,class T2> inline bool read(T1 &x,T2 &y){return read(x)&read(y);}
template<class T1,class T2,class T3> inline bool read(T1 &x,T2 &y,T3 &z){return read(x)&read(y)&read(z);}
template<class T1,class T2,class T3,class T4> inline bool read(T1 &x,T2 &y,T3 &z,T4 &w){return read(x)&read(y)&read(z)&read(w);}
inline bool reads(char *x){
	char c=Getchar();
	while(c<33||c>126){c=Getchar();if(Terminal)return 0;}
	while(c>=33&&c<=126) (*x++)=c,c=Getchar();
	*x=0;return 1;
}
template<class T>inline void print(T x,const char c='\n'){
	if(!x){putchar('0');putchar(c);return;}
	if(x<0) putchar('-'),x=-x;
	int m=0,a[20];
	while(x) a[m++]=x%10,x/=10;
	while(m--) putchar(a[m]+'0');
	putchar(c);
}
//--------------------------------head---------------------------------------------

const int inf=0x3f3f3f3f;
const int N=1005,M=100005,mod=1e9+7;
template<class T,class S> inline void ch(T &x,const S y){x=(x+y)%mod;}
inline int exp(int x,int y,const int mod=::mod){
	int ans=1;
	while(y){
		if(y&1) ans=(ll)ans*x%mod;
		x=(ll)x*x%mod;y>>=1;
	}return ans;
}

int n,m,a,b;
char c[N][N];

int main(){
#ifdef rqgao2014
	assert(freopen("input.txt","r",stdin));
#endif
	scanf("%d%d%d%d",&n,&m,&a,&b);
	
	if(n%2==0||m%2==0){
		for(int i=1;i<=n;i++)
			for(int j=1;j<=m;j++)
				c[i][j]='.';
		if(n&1){
			for(int j=1;j<=m/2&&a;j++)
				c[n][j*2-1]='<',c[n][j*2]='>',a--;
		}
		if(m&1){
			for(int j=1;j<=n/2&&b;j++)
				c[j*2-1][m]='^',c[j*2][m]='v',b--;
		}
		int tm=m&1;m=m/2*2;
		int tn=n&1;n=n/2*2;
		if((a+1)/2*2*2+(b+1)/2*2*2<=n*m){
			puts("YES");
			for(int i=1;i<=n;i+=2)
				for(int j=1;j<=m;j+=2){	
					if(a){
						c[i][j]='<';c[i][j+1]='>';a--;
						if(a) c[i+1][j]='<',c[i+1][j+1]='>',a--;
					}
					else if(b){	
						c[i][j]='^';c[i+1][j]='v';b--;
						if(b) c[i][j+1]='^',c[i+1][j+1]='v',b--;
					}
				}
			n+=tn;m+=tm;
			for(int i=1;i<=n;i++)
				printf("%s\n",c[i]+1);
		}
		else puts("NO");
		return 0;
	}
	
	if(n*m<a*2+b*2){puts("NO");return 0;}
	if(n*(m/2)<a){puts("NO");return 0;}
	if((n/2)*m<b){puts("NO");return 0;}
	puts("YES");
	for(int i=1;i<=n;i++)
		for(int j=1;j<=m;j++)
			c[i][j]='.';
	if(n&1){
		for(int j=1;j<=m/2&&a;j++)
			c[n][m-j*2+2]='>',c[n][m-j*2+1]='<',a--;
	}
	if(m&1){
		for(int j=1;j<=n/2&&b;j++)
			c[j*2-1][m]='^',c[j*2][m]='v',b--;
	}
	bool tag=0;
	if((a&1)&&(b&1)){
		c[n-1][1]='^';c[n][1]='v';
		c[n-2][1]='<';c[n-2][2]='>';
		tag=1;a--;b--;
	}
	int tm=m&1;m=m/2*2;
	int tn=n&1;n=n/2*2;
	for(int i=1;i<=n;i+=2)
		for(int j=1;j<=m;j+=2){
			if(tag&&i==n-1&&j==1) continue;
			if(a){
				c[i][j]='<';c[i][j+1]='>';a--;
				if(a) c[i+1][j]='<',c[i+1][j+1]='>',a--;
			}
			else if(b){
				c[i][j]='^';c[i+1][j]='v';b--;
				if(b) c[i][j+1]='^',c[i+1][j+1]='v',b--;
			}
		}
	n+=tn;m+=tm;
	for(int i=1;i<=n;i++)
		printf("%s\n",c[i]+1);
	return 0;
}

Measured memory_bytes: 2176