Untitled [Ref. #82] 2007

Myra Greene's Untitled [Ref. #82] feels like it was coaxed into being through layers of dark, mysterious alchemy. The piece is dominated by a monochromatic palette, where blacks meld into deeper blacks, like staring into a pool at midnight. The surface is a tactile wonderland; it looks like she might have used her fingers to push and pull at the emulsion, creating a landscape of tiny peaks and valleys. Down in the corner, there's this burst of light, almost like a constellation being born from the void. I can't help but think of the way Minor White coaxed form out of abstraction, or how Emmet Gowin finds the sublime in the everyday. Greene's work reminds us that art is never really finished, only abandoned, and that the conversation between artists stretches across time, each one adding their voice to the chorus.