Cuddlefish 2018

Soey Milk made this incredibly detailed drawing, Cuddlefish, sometime during her lifetime beginning in 1989 using graphite on paper. Can you imagine the hours? I'm mesmerized by the cross-hatching and the detailed rendering of the figure, and I find myself wondering what Soey Milk was thinking as she constructed the many planes of fabric in a delicate symphony of line. Maybe she was thinking about pattern, texture, and light, how to create the illusion of depth on a flat surface. I feel the tenderness and vulnerability in the figure's gaze. The choice of a monochromatic palette emphasizes the artist's skillful control over light and shadow. It reminds me a little bit of the drawings of Alice Neel, where every line seems charged with emotion. Artists are always riffing off one another, taking up the thread of an idea and weaving it into something new, which is a constant conversation across time.