Looking Glass 2009

Pavlo Makov made this piece, Looking Glass, with what looks like ink on paper. There’s a real sense of process here, seeing how the image emerges out of lots of tiny marks. The texture is key. Look at how the light catches on the paper’s surface, and the way the ink bleeds and pools. It’s not about hiding the hand of the artist, but embracing the physicality of the medium. The marks have this kind of repetitive, rhythmic quality that is almost meditative. If you look at the bottom right, you can see how the ink trails off into these delicate, feathery lines. That’s the thing about ink, it’s unpredictable. Like how Agnes Martin used to make grids by hand, but allow for the imperfections. It’s the same here, the drawing flirts with precision, but ultimately embraces the wobble. This work reminds me of Piranesi’s etchings of imagined, labyrinthine prisons, or maybe a map made by Borges. But ultimately, it stands alone, a testament to art’s ability to embrace ambiguity, leaving space for our own interpretations.