Untitled 2022

This work is an untitled drawing by Alevtyna Kakhidze. It’s rendered with quick, decisive marks, full of intentionality, a kind of ‘thinking out loud’ on paper. There are blocks of red and blue within the broader palette of black lines on white, these colors are strategically placed to draw attention to the texts and certain parts of the composition. I'm really feeling the artist's hand as she’s making the image, and I think about my own studio practice, and how mark-making becomes a way of grappling with thought. I see the reference to Hannah Arendt and wonder if Kakhidze was reading her at the time. I also wonder about the dialogue between image and text. What does it mean to "paint" with words, especially in the context of political commentary? What is she trying to say about guilt, responsibility, and the circulation of truth? The drawing almost feels like a sketch in preparation for a larger painting. We artists are always in conversation with each other, with the past, with the present, trying to make sense of the world. The work embraces uncertainty.