Untitled 1944

This drawing was made by Kukryniksy, sometime around 1944, using ink on paper. It’s all about mark-making, how the artist has used lines to create form, and meaning. It's so expressive, isn't it? Look at how the frenzy of scribbled lines creates this nightmarish tangle of hair. It fills the coffin and contrasts with the clean, almost geometric lines of the wooden planks. The physical act of drawing becomes a kind of performance. The scratching and swirling of the ink mirror the chaos and absurdity of the scene. The starkness of the black and white palette intensifies the sense of dread and dark humor. It is as though the artist is trying to make sense of something through repetition. The way the forms are built up from layers of lines makes me think of Philip Guston and his later works. He also used simple tools to convey complex ideas about the world. Like Guston, Kukryniksy isn't afraid of ambiguity. This drawing invites us to engage with the process of meaning-making itself, to question what we see and how we interpret it.