Navaho 1958

John Ferren made this painting, Navaho, and he really went for it with the oil paint. You can see how the strokes build up this kind of energetic space. There's a great mix of yellows, reds, and blues, but it’s how he lays them down that's key. The surface has this incredible texture, like he's sculpting with the paint. Look how some of the strokes are thick and opaque, almost jumping off the canvas, while others are thin, letting the layers underneath peek through. I think of Diebenkorn's abstract landscapes, that same sense of building up a world through color and texture. Notice that thick yellow swathe, looping down. It's almost cartoonish, and it gives the whole painting a real jolt. To me, it all comes back to the process. It's like Ferren is showing us his working, his thinking, right there on the canvas. And that's what makes it so alive.