Morning 1904

Ciurlionis made "Morning" with pastel, and its all about the application of pigment, of colour, of feeling your way into being. I’m looking at the marks he’s making and thinking about how they build up, bit by bit, the hatching marks creating a vibration on the surface of the paper. You can almost feel the colour being laid down, one stroke at a time, as if each line is a breath. Look at the way the sun bursts out, orange and red, against the cool greens and blues. It's as if he's trying to capture a feeling more than a scene, maybe a mood, like that moment when the world wakes up. Ciurlionis reminds me a bit of Hilma af Klint, another artist who was reaching for something beyond what we can see. Both artists seem to be part of some strange conversation. They offer us a glimpse into another way of seeing, a world where music and colour dance together. What do you see?