Untitled 1995

This is a small six-by-six-inch drawing, by Nancy Fried. It's one of those images where I can feel the artist's hand right there on the paper. The drawing is so simple, almost like a doodle, but it's also got this quiet strength. The contour lines are confident, unapologetic. I wonder if she was thinking about other artists who’ve drawn the body when she made it. I imagine her considering the work of Louise Bourgeois, maybe? There's a beautiful kind of awkwardness to the proportions, like the body is emerging, bit by bit. I can almost see Nancy Fried standing there, pen in hand, deciding where to put each line, each curve. It's like a conversation between her and the paper, a dance of intuition and intention. Artists are always talking to each other, across time and space, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. And maybe, just maybe, this little drawing can inspire us to see ourselves a little differently too.