Suprematism 1915

Kazimir Malevich made this painting, Suprematism, using oil on canvas. Look at how he's laid down these simple blocks of color, it’s clear he's interested in the act of painting itself. The textures are key. You can see the brushstrokes, how the paint is thick in some areas and thin in others. The surface isn't smooth; it's got this beautiful, uneven quality that gives the painting a real sense of depth. Check out that long black bar cutting across the canvas – it’s not perfectly straight, it wobbles! That imperfection is everything, it’s like a heartbeat running through the whole piece. Malevich reminds me a little of Hilma af Klint, they were both reaching for some kind of spiritual language through abstraction. It's like they're trying to paint the unpaintable, embracing the ambiguity and leaving space for us to bring our own feelings to the canvas.