Untitled 2018

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this untitled piece with what looks like pencil and ink, and it's got a sketchbook vibe. The kind of drawing where the process is right there on the surface. What strikes me is how the artist uses line to build these two separate, but somehow connected, scenes. On one side, you've got this figure in bed, all loose and flowing lines, next to what looks like some candles and handwritten text, all floating in the same plane. Then, over on the other side, there’s a drawing of a coffin surrounded by funerary decorations. The linework here is a little bolder, more defined, creating this sense of weight and solemnity. I find myself focusing on the way the bedsheets kind of melt into the background. It’s like the artist is showing us how these moments – whether it’s lying in bed or attending a funeral – blur into one another, becoming part of the same experience. It makes me think of outsider art, of artists like Bill Traylor, who used simple means to convey complex emotions and narratives. It is a reminder that art doesn't have to be polished to be profound.