Ocean 1975

Vija Celmins made this print of an ocean surface using lithography. It's monochrome, with a kind of grey-scale harmony that’s almost meditative. I imagine her, deeply focused, hand moving to build the texture of the water. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, with that sense of quiet, insistent labor. But unlike Martin's grids, this is an attempt to capture something natural, chaotic even, and bring it into a controlled, artistic space. I feel like she's wrestling with something here, not just copying a scene, but trying to understand the ocean’s essence. What does it mean to reproduce something so vast and changeable with such precision? It’s like she's trying to hold the ocean still, just for a moment, so we can really look at it. Celmins isn't just showing us the ocean; she's showing us how to see. And that's the gift that painters can give.