Five Six and Four (77-654) 1977

Ulfert Wilke made this abstract print, “Five Six and Four”, sometime in the 20th century with what looks like ink on paper. Wilke lays down shapes that seem familiar – a circle, a triangle – but they overlap and intersect in ways that mess with your sense of space. The smudgy edges of the lines, created by the ink bleeding into the paper, hint at movement, like the shapes are vibrating or breathing. There's one particular triangle that pierces the circle – it feels almost violent, yet the overall effect is surprisingly gentle. The texture is soft, almost like a whisper. It reminds me of Cy Twombly’s line-based works, where the gesture is everything. You sense Wilke just letting the shapes happen. It’s this embrace of chance, this willingness to let the process guide the outcome, that makes the piece so compelling. It's like catching a glimpse of the artist's mind at work.