Space Fish 1984

Oleksandr Aksinin made this drawing called 'Space Fish' using what looks like pen and ink, sometime before 1985. It's all sharp lines and cross hatching, which gives it a kind of mechanical, technical feel, like a blueprint. But look closer, it's a fish, or a spaceship, or maybe both at once! The artist combines organic and geometric shapes, like little cubes floating around. It's like a Da Vinci invention gone a bit sci-fi. Notice the texture achieved through hatching, building up tone and depth with thousands of tiny lines. It feels both precise and obsessive, which for me is a potent combination. Aksinin, like Paul Klee, creates a world that's both familiar and strange, inviting us to explore the space between dreams and reality. It celebrates the way art can embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations.