Figure at Barnes Hole 1962

Willem de Kooning made this painting, "Figure at Barnes Hole," with oil on paper. Look at the way he’s laid down the paint – it's so immediate! You can almost feel him pushing the brush across the surface. For me, artmaking is like a conversation, a back-and-forth with the materials. The texture here is key. The paint isn't overly thick, but you can see the strokes, the direction he moved. See how the greens and blues at the top give way to pinks and reds toward the middle? It feels like a landscape but it might just be a feeling. And that dark swoosh, like a limb, anchoring the composition. De Kooning’s paintings always feel like they’re about to come apart, but somehow they hold together, teetering on the edge of chaos. I'm reminded of Joan Mitchell. Both artists embraced a kind of messy freedom, trusting the process to lead them somewhere unexpected. There’s no right or wrong way to see this; it’s more about what it makes you feel.