Ontological Comic. Metalanguage 1980

Oleksandr Aksinin made this 'Ontological Comic' with ink, on what looks like paper, sometime before 1985. Aksinin's process feels like a playful exploration, a visual riff where ideas are sketched out and connected. The color palette here is tight - black, white, and hot pink, and the way the image is arranged into a grid is like a comic book minus the narrative. The materiality of the work is immediate. The ink is applied with precision, giving the image a crisp quality. Look at the squares where Aksinin layers lines and dots - this layering creates a sense of depth, and I'm reminded of the way Agnes Martin used to build up her grids, slowly, deliberately. I’m drawn to the the fourth row from the top, the fourth image from the left. It's hard to tell what's being depicted, but that’s part of its charm. It feels like a code, an intimate language. This reminds me of the work of Paul Klee - both artists share a love of symbols and a fascination with the subconscious. Aksinin isn’t trying to give us all the answers, instead he invites us to bring our own experiences.