Untitled (trial proof 2/4 2nd state) 1988

This untitled trial proof from Jasper Johns looks like it was made with lithography or etching, you know, a printmaking process, though it’s hard to be sure. It’s a real mix of light and dark, with these blocks of intense color popping out against a more somber background. What grabs me are those graphic outlines, especially in the faces. There's a kind of joyful awkwardness, like the artist is figuring it out as they go. Look at the way the blocks of color sit slightly off-kilter, suggesting a process of layering and adjustment. I'm drawn to the face on the green ground, its simple black outline like a child's drawing, yet placed within this complex, almost chaotic composition. Johns is known for taking everyday objects or images and making them strange, making us see them differently. It reminds me of Rauschenberg's collages, or even Cy Twombly’s scrawls – this idea that art can be about the act of making, the messy, imperfect, human process of trying to make sense of the world.