Petroglyph 1935 - 1942

Lala Eve Rivol made this artwork, Petroglyph, with ink on paper. Just looking at it, I feel a little bit like I’m deciphering a code, or maybe reading a map to a place that only exists in dreams. The whole thing is covered in these tiny dots, like a pointillist Seurat but instead of landscapes, it’s all symbols and figures. It’s this contrast between the dark and the light, the positive and negative spaces, that really makes the imagery pop. Look at the cluster of handprints near the bottom – they're like a signature, not just of the artist, but of humanity itself. Rivol embraced the process, allowing the accumulation of marks to become the picture. It reminds me a little bit of the work of Agnes Martin, in the sense of quiet focus, but with a wilder energy. Ultimately, it’s about the journey, the act of creation, and the stories we tell ourselves along the way.