Women with flowers 1988

Walasse Ting made this screenprint, "Women with Flowers," in 1988. The color palette is like a poppy field after a big rainstorm, all saturated and intense; it’s a real testament to how colors can sing when they’re put together with guts. Ting's got this way of letting the colors bleed into each other, not really caring if they stay in the lines. It's like he's saying, "Hey, let's see what happens if we just let it all flow." Look at the way the magenta sort of melts into the nude of the reclining figure’s body. It’s almost like a raw nerve ending, radiating sensuality and ease all at once. It reminds me a little of Matisse, who also knew how to make colors vibrate with life. But Ting brings his own joyful, slightly chaotic energy to the mix. It's all about the pleasure of looking, the joy of making, and the sheer, unadulterated fun of being alive.