Mira Schendel (Toquinhos 1972) 1972

Mira Schendel made this in 1972 and called it Toquinhos - it looks like ink on paper. Isn’t it funny how marks can be so simple and yet suggest a whole world? For me, this is what process-based art is all about: the idea that a single line, a single mark, can have a life of its own. Look at the way the line is drawn here; it’s not perfect, it wavers, as if the artist allowed their hand to have its own way, letting the ink bleed a little. Then there are the ‘e’ shapes, almost like little characters, or at least, like alphabet soup about to form a word. And then that little blob! What is that blob? Schendel’s work reminds me of Agnes Martin, in that it also seeks a kind of minimalist language, paring everything down to its essence. Both artists embrace the idea that less can be more, that simplicity can be profound. The beauty of art is that it allows for ambiguity. There’s no right or wrong answer.