Spring 1973

Ilka Gedo made this painting, Spring, and I’m just going to dive in. What’s striking is how the painting is built from gentle marks, like soft rain. It reminds me that artmaking is a delicate balancing act, each gesture contributing to the whole. The colors are muted, dreamlike; the surface looks almost like it's been rubbed into the canvas. I wonder if Gedo used her fingers, or maybe a rag, to blend the colors and create that hazy effect. And the texture! It feels like I could reach out and touch the roughness of the earth, the delicate petals of the flowers. Look at the two figures in the center; each form is outlined with so much care. It’s as if Gedo is inviting us to pause, to savor the simple act of seeing. I think of the artist Paul Klee whose work is so playful. Like Klee, Gedo embraces ambiguity, reminds us that art is not about finding definitive answers, but about embracing the endless possibilities of perception.