Untitled 1962

Luchita Hurtado made this untitled artwork with blue paint or ink, and I can see how the liquid seeped and spread across the page. The whole thing is awash in turquoise-y blues, making me think of underwater spaces, like Hurtado’s holding her breath and painting from the depths. The figure is almost like an x-ray, bones and organs emerging from the blue. It's like she's mapped a body, and the watery paint gives it a kind of dissolving, ephemeral feel. The figure spreads their arms out, mirroring the shape of the torso and legs beneath. The texture of the paint isn't dense or heavy. It’s more about letting the medium do its thing, creating those blurry edges where the colors meet and mingle. This reminds me a little of Etel Adnan's paintings, the way she used color to evoke landscapes and emotional states, but with Hurtado, there's this ghostly human presence. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about answers but about exploring different ways of seeing and feeling.