Nude 1975

This ‘Nude’ is a drawing by Hryhorii Havrylenko. He’s used a simple black line to delineate this figure. I find myself thinking about what it means to draw a line around something, like you're trying to capture it, pin it down. But a line is also permeable, it lets things in and out. Look at the hand raised to the chest. It’s so simply rendered with just a few strokes, yet it conveys such a powerful gesture. The way the fingers are slightly splayed, creating a sense of openness and vulnerability. What is she protecting? Or presenting? It's all in that simple, elegant mark. Havrylenko reminds me of Matisse in his economical and confident approach to line. But unlike Matisse’s odalisques, there is a certain awkwardness in Havrylenko's figure, an immediacy that feels raw and honest. Art’s not about perfection, but feeling.