Heaven is thirsty 2017

Christian Attersee painted "Heaven is thirsty" with bright, expressive strokes and lines. The canvas buzzes with life, rendered in a mix of earthy browns, watery blues, and bursts of red, like a garden exploding with color. I'm feeling this painting’s energy! It looks like Attersee was totally in the zone, letting the painting grow organically. He’s juggling bold, flat shapes with delicate, scratchy lines, pushing and pulling at the surface. Check out the figure in the lower left corner, carrying buckets... Are they filling them or emptying them? Maybe Attersee felt like that figure sometimes, pouring his heart out onto the canvas, questioning if he was making or unmaking. I imagine him stepping back, squinting, then diving back in with another swipe of paint or a flurry of lines, searching for the place where everything clicks. Like all painters, he's in conversation with the history of painting, adding his own voice to the mix. And just like with all paintings, our looking is what brings it into being.