Ña Diáfana 1923

Xul Solar made this painting, Ña Diáfana, with watercolor, I think, on paper. The washes of color are so thin, one on top of the other, like he’s building up a transparent architecture. I really get a sense that he’s feeling his way into the image, discovering it as he goes. Look at the way he uses brown and ochre in layers. The figure is almost see-through; you can see the buildings right through her middle! It’s like she’s a ghost, or an X-ray, all lines and angles, but also soft and dreamy. The zig-zagging lines, the floating, almost musical notes, the strange geometry, all of it feels like a personal language. Kind of reminds me of Hilma af Klint, you know? That urge to make up your own alphabet of mark making! It makes you feel like you're stepping into someone else's idea of reality. You know? Like art is a conversation across time and space, full of its own strange logic.