Untitled [profile of a female figure in a dark setting] [verso] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn created this profile of a female figure with ink on paper. I can imagine the act of painting itself. How has it come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition? It’s a dark and moody scene, but I sympathize with Diebenkorn. I can imagine what it might have been like to create this. What was he thinking when he made it? The ink is thinly applied, so it’s likely that it came together quickly, maybe from the artist needing to express an idea urgently. There is so much ambiguity here, but then the painting embraces uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations. I am really drawn to the way he has described the body, and the way he has only suggested that the body exists. As painters we are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.