Form and Content: The Shape of Discourse #13, The Dalai Lama, Tibetan leader, peacemaker 1995

Morgan O'Hara made "Form and Content: The Shape of Discourse #13, The Dalai Lama, Tibetan leader, peacemaker" with ink on paper. You can see the immediacy of the ink; it's a very graphic, bold statement, capturing a moment, a gesture, in real-time. It’s all about the feel of the medium – the stark black ink against the creamy paper. Notice how the density of the ink varies? In some areas, it’s solid, almost a void, while in others, you can see the texture of the paper coming through. There’s a part on the left side of the form, these spikes shooting up, that really grabs my attention. It's such a small detail, but it adds this energetic counterpoint to the solid mass of the figure. It's like a tiny rebellion against the overall form. This work reminds me a little of Franz Kline's bold, calligraphic abstractions, but where Kline is all about grand gestures, O'Hara's got this focused intensity, this sense of capturing something fleeting and ephemeral. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be about answers. Sometimes, it's just about asking the right questions.