Peasant Women in a Church 1912

Kazimir Malevich made this drawing, Peasant Women in a Church, with graphite on paper. I like to imagine Malevich standing at his easel, working and reworking, maybe even squinting a little. The image is built from line, shadow, and mass, emerging through a process of layering graphite marks, rubbing them in, erasing, and then redefining. I'm curious about the tender touch of the peasants, their hands gently laid on each others’ shoulders. Look at their faces. I feel a quiet intensity in the figures. They are all in a row, a congregation or a procession, maybe. I wonder what it might have been like to make this piece? How Malevich, so well-known for his suprematist paintings, brought his ideas down to earth. I find myself wondering what informed this work—Russian folk art or orthodox icons? For me, painting is a place for this kind of visual exchange. It creates a chain reaction of ideas and inspiration flowing between artists and viewers. Each artist adds their own layer to an ongoing conversation.