Untitled (Jewelry Series) 1976

Jay DeFeo made this drawing, part of her Jewelry Series, using ink and wash on paper. I love to think about how this image came to be, the artist circling the form as it slowly emerged. It's like she’s feeling her way through some kind of symbolic language. There’s a central, shield-like form, dark and weighty, contrasted by the delicate, linear elements that radiate around it. I can imagine DeFeo’s thought process. She must have been completely absorbed, each mark a response to the last, in a kind of back-and-forth, call-and-response. I also use this method in my own work, allowing the painting to guide me as much as I guide it. I also see this in the work of other artists who embrace uncertainty and ambiguity. It’s as if they are having a conversation across time and space, constantly inspiring one another's creativity.