Head 1919

This is Henri Laurens’s "Head," somewhere in Paris, though I don’t know exactly when it was made or with what. The colour palette of ochre and clay reminds me of the earth. It’s solid, and looks like it's been pieced together, bit by bit, with care. I love how tactile it is. It’s really obvious that it's been made by hand: those planes, edges, and lines are so angular that they make me think of Picasso. It reminds me how art making is about process. Each layer and mark builds on the last, revealing the artist’s hand and intentions. I think he was having a conversation with the Cubists, like his buddy Picasso, or maybe Braque. Art is an ongoing conversation, echoing and answering across time. And it's always embracing ambiguity. "Head" isn’t a fixed likeness, it's a living, breathing mystery.