Aught 1968

Eva Hesse made 'Aught', and like much of her work, it's not just painting or sculpture, but something wonderfully in-between. She’s using a translucent material, maybe latex or fiberglass, stained with a warm yellow that makes me think of aged paper or faded memory. I imagine Hesse in her studio, experimenting with the fluidity and fragility of these materials. Maybe she poured the latex, letting it wrinkle and sag, embracing the unexpected forms that emerged. The edges are rough, almost torn, giving the work a sense of vulnerability and impermanence. Hesse was deeply invested in process and the body and exploring feelings of anxiety, absurdity, and the abject. I think of other artists working with repetition and seriality, like Agnes Martin, but Hesse brings a tactile, almost visceral quality that sets her apart. This piece feels like a meditation on absence and presence, on the beauty and ephemerality of life. It’s like she's reminding us that everything is in flux.