Variability of Similar Forms 1970

Nancy Graves made this installation of bronze and painted bones sometime during her career. What I love is how she takes a simple form and multiplies it, playing with the subtle differences that make each one unique. It's a bit like mark-making, where you repeat a gesture, but each time it shifts, breathes, and takes on a life of its own. The surfaces are rough, the paint thick in places, suggesting the hand of the artist is very present. Up close, you can see the drips and layers, the physicality of the process. There's one bone that's a bit bent, almost like it's reaching out and waving to the viewer. Maybe that’s the artist showing us that, even within a structure, there is room for movement. I am reminded of Eva Hesse’s sculptures, which similarly explored repetition and variation. Like Hesse, Graves invites us to see the beauty in imperfection. Art is always an experiment in seeing, isn't it?