Space is the Eye of a Needle 1979

Oleksandr Aksinin made this drawing, Space is the Eye of a Needle, using colored inks, and the process is all about building up these amazing fields of color with tiny, careful marks. You can tell this isn’t just some mechanical process though, because of the way the colors breathe and blend. The texture here is fascinating. The ink almost looks like it's been laid down in layers, with each stroke building up a kind of shimmering surface. Notice the way Aksinin juxtaposes the vibrant reds and greens with the stark blacks and whites. The composition is divided horizontally into bands, creating a strange tension, a kind of visual push and pull. Look closely at those little dots—almost like stitches—that run across the bands, anchoring the composition to the surface. Aksinin reminds me of Paul Klee, both of them were masters of quiet intensity. I love how this piece invites us to consider art as something always unfolding, never fixed, and full of delightful ambiguity.