Daydreaming 1959

Yiannis Moralis made this oil painting, “Daydreaming,” at some point during his career, we don’t know exactly when. The colors in it are muted, like a memory fading at the edges, all browns and creams punctuated by sharp black lines. I see process here, the thinking-through-making that I love, in how the artist has built up the image in layers. Look closely and you can almost feel the texture of the paint. Moralis isn’t hiding anything; the strokes are visible, thick in some places, thin in others. It’s like he’s inviting us into the studio to watch him work. See the way the black lines dance around the figure, defining her shape, but also breaking it apart? It's as though she exists in multiple dimensions simultaneously. There’s something of de Kooning in the gestural freedom of this piece, a willingness to embrace the messiness of being, even if you are just daydreaming. It's a reminder that art doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful.