Midnight Mistral 1973

Sheigla Hartman made Midnight Mistral as a print, probably in the early 70s. The approach is fascinating; it's like she's built the image out of tiny, meticulous marks, and the tonal range achieved by these marks feels incredible. You get a real sense of artmaking as a process of layering, of building something complex from simple gestures. Looking at it, I'm struck by the texture that’s almost tactile. It’s all on the surface, yet it creates this illusion of depth. The individual marks, like tiny hatchings, catch the light in different ways, giving the whole piece a shimmering quality. See that area on the left where the lines seem to bunch together, forming a darker mass? It's as if the weight of the marks themselves is creating a gravitational pull. Hartman’s work reminds me a little bit of Agnes Martin, although Martin aimed for a certain kind of minimalist perfection, while Hartman is much more intuitive. And this piece shows how a single artistic vision can lead to endless interpretations, which is kind of beautiful if you think about it.