Untitled 2018

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this untitled artwork with pencil and maybe some ink on paper. It's a landscape, a little dreamscape, that contains a body of water, a tree, and a ladder. I'm thinking about Alevtyna making this, the simplicity of the tools, and the way she makes a tree look like its being struck by lightning, or maybe it's a palm tree. The ladder looks so out of place and vulnerable and makes me think of a Magritte painting. It also makes me wonder if the artist is thinking about climbing as a kind of goal. The scratchy lines that make up the landscape create a texture that I appreciate. It makes me think about how artists are always in conversation with one another, and about how painting and drawing are like languages that we use to communicate with one another. The ladder, a simple gesture, makes the drawing appear highly intelligent.