For the Lady 1971

Here we have "For the Lady," made by Nathan Oliveira with ink on paper. This piece is all about the push and pull of dark and light, isn't it? It's like Oliveira is feeling his way through the darkness, using the ink to carve out these shapes, these fleeting glimpses of form. I'm really drawn to the way the ink pools and bleeds into the paper. There is an incredible feeling of spontaneity, like the image is emerging right before our eyes. If you zoom in on the top central part of the image, you see how the ink thins out, almost like a wash, creating this luminous effect. You can almost see the ghost of the paper beneath. I wonder what kind of brushes or tools Oliveira used to apply the ink? This interplay of chance and control reminds me of some of Franz Kline's work. They both embrace this idea of artmaking as a process of discovery. Ultimately, it's not about arriving at some fixed meaning but about inviting us to participate in the act of seeing.