Z Hand 1979

Oleksandr Aksinin’s “Z Hand” is like a map, maybe a guide to somewhere, made with ink and a very steady hand. You can see the process in the tiny, methodical marks that build up these forms. The color is so interesting, how pink and green are used to create something unsettling, fleshy but almost architectural. Look at the hand itself, it’s flat, almost like a stamp, yet the texture gives it volume. And then there are these black holes punctuating the pink, breaking up the surface. It’s this constant push and pull between flatness and depth that makes it so compelling. It’s controlled but also a bit wild. Aksinin reminds me a bit of Paul Klee, someone else who was interested in the power of the small mark and the magic of color. In the end, this work embraces complexity, offering no easy answers, which is just how I like it.