The Fourth 'Book of Schemes'. Album #2, the First Folder 1978

Valerii Lamakh made this page of drawings, ‘The Fourth “Book of Schemes”’, at an unknown date, using ink on paper. There are six squares, each a slightly different combination of angular colored lines. Looking at these lines, I imagine Lamakh bent over his work, trying out color combinations, making something so simple and so complex all at once! It is almost as if he were thinking through a problem, mapping it out. He works with geometry, but something about the colors, the freedom of hand, feels connected to folk art. The composition makes me think of Paul Klee and his grids of color. What does it mean to work with rules and break them at the same time? Artists learn from one another, even across time, inspiring each other in a silent, ongoing conversation. Lamakh's little drawing makes me want to run back to my studio and paint!