Pink II 1999

Here’s Peter Alexander’s Pink II, made with graphite, charcoal, and pastel. I see the making process as a kind of dance between intention and accident, and this piece really shows that. The surface is almost blank, but then you get these smudges and swirls, like a ghost of a rose, or maybe some kind of organic form. Look at how the charcoal feathers out, so soft and delicate, yet also so assertive in its darkness. There’s an energy here, a sense of something emerging and receding at the same time. It’s like Alexander is letting the materials lead the way, allowing the drawing to find its own form. This reminds me of the work of Cy Twombly, with its scribbled lines and ethereal compositions. But where Twombly is all grand gestures, Alexander feels more intimate, more vulnerable. Both artists show us that art is a conversation, a way of seeing and thinking that unfolds over time, always open to new possibilities.