Cockades of Asclepius 1979

Oleksandr Aksinin made this print, Cockades of Asclepius, in 1979 with ink and gouache. Look how he builds the image with these tiny marks, like he’s knitting it together. It reminds us that artmaking is as much about the process as it is about the final image. The texture is so interesting. It’s flat, but the density of the marks gives it a kind of visual depth. See how the pink background shimmers, almost like it's vibrating? Then, these strange figures emerge, green and black, symmetrical, almost like ritual objects. Notice the small white dashes at the bottom. They interrupt the composition, adding a rhythm, a stutter. They don’t quite fit, but they make you look again. That's the beauty of art, isn't it? The way it embraces ambiguity, invites you to find your own meaning. It calls to mind the symbolic imagery of Hilma af Klint, or perhaps the visionary graphics of Agnes Pelton, with its blend of figuration and abstraction.