Untitled 1967

Hedda Sterne made this drawing with graphite in New York, though we don’t know exactly when. Look at those dense, swirling marks that form a kind of hovering cloud. It’s as if she’s captured a moment of pure thought or feeling, suspended in the air. I can imagine her, pencil in hand, moving in tiny, repetitive motions, building up this mass of graphite line by line. There’s a real tenderness here. It feels like the kind of drawing you make when you're trying to find your way, when you're not quite sure what you're looking for, but you know it has something to do with feeling. It reminds me of other abstract artists who explored the power of simple marks. Think of Agnes Martin and her grids, or Eva Hesse and her obsessive process. There’s a quiet revolution going on in this small drawing. It shows how art can be about the journey, the process, the very act of searching. And how a simple graphite line can hold so much feeling.