Female image 1965

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this image of a woman with ink, and his hand has been busy. Look at that layering of lines, built up like a wall. The woman's hair and clothes have a hatched surface, like a screen; the marks vibrate and flicker. Compare it to the background, where the lines are looser, more free. The difference between the face and the hatched background is interesting to me. The face has a fragile, almost childlike quality. The hatching of the background is a solid curtain, it gives the face a poignancy, and sense of isolation, as if she is trying to break through a barrier. I'm reminded of Agnes Martin, someone else interested in lines, but in a very different way. Like Martin, Havrylenko understands that simplicity can be profound and that repetition can open up unexpected possibilities.