Untitled (Ocean) 1972

Vija Celmins made this 'Untitled (Ocean)' drawing with graphite, embodying a deeply layered process of seeing and mark-making. Look closely and you'll notice how Celmins builds this seascape through countless tiny marks. The graphite is so dense in areas, it almost seems like it could be a photograph. But then your eye catches a certain wave, a slight waver in the texture, and you remember it's all hand-drawn, a labor of seeing and replicating. The texture isn't just about imitation; it's about feeling the ocean, the endlessness of it. This work reminds me of Agnes Martin's subtle grids. While Martin sought transcendence through abstraction, Celmins finds it by getting super close to the real. It’s like she's whispering: look, look again, and you might just see the whole world in a single wave.