Floral Macrame 1980

Vudon Baklytsky’s "Floral Macrame" is a riot of color made with oil paint, sometime during his lifetime. The mark making has this all-over quality, like a decorative textile where no area is less important than any other. There’s a real physicality to the surface. The paint is applied with a kind of scumbling technique, where the brushstrokes build up this almost crusty, tangible texture. I'm especially drawn to the way Baklytsky renders the flowers; notice how some of the petals seem to catch the light, while others recede into shadow, creating a sense of depth and movement. It's as if the flowers are constantly shifting and rearranging themselves before our eyes. Baklytsky's work reminds me a little of Chaim Soutine. Both had this impasto style and a willingness to let the paint do its thing. And just like Soutine, Baklytsky embraces ambiguity, inviting us to get lost in the texture and color without necessarily needing to decipher a fixed meaning.