Dauka 3 1989

Małgorzata Serwatka made 'Dauka 3', and it looks like she was searching. I see a swirl of cool greys and whites, punctuated by warmer browns and tans. Did she start with that looping form at the top? It feels like she's built the whole painting around it, letting it morph into something else entirely. Maybe she didn't know where she was going with it at first. I know that feeling – the push and pull of the brush, the way one mark leads to another, then another. It’s a dance between intention and accident. Look at the way the paint is applied – thin in some areas, allowing the texture of the surface to peek through, and thicker in others, creating depth and dimension. That grey, scribbled area looks like someone in mourning. I bet Serwatka felt her way through this piece, responding to the evolving image with each stroke. That’s what painting is, an ongoing conversation with the work itself, and with all the painters who came before.