QUAD (897) 1997

Creighton Michael made QUAD (897) with graphite and ink on paper, and the surface has this beautiful pale, vellum-like quality, almost like skin. I can imagine Michael making this, the process of his hand moving across the surface, feeling the grain of the paper, searching, finding, losing the lines again. I think he's trying to draw a 3D form, but not really caring if it works. More like he's seeing what happens when you let the lines go wherever they want, and allowing for error and accidents. There's something very vulnerable about it. It's like he's saying, "I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to keep going anyway." And that's what I love about painting. It's a conversation between the artist and the materials, a dance between intention and chance. It reminds me of Brice Marden’s explorations of line and form, or even some of Richard Tuttle’s more delicate works. Painting is this ongoing, meandering exchange.