Sketch to four compositions 1975

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this 'Sketch to four compositions' with pencil on paper. What strikes me about this sketch is the artist’s attention to process. Each rectangle is a study in mark-making, the pencil lines are like little dances across the page. It’s like watching someone think through drawing, each mark a decision, a question, or a tentative answer. The texture of the paper shows through, lending the sketch an unfinished quality. It reminds me of the way Cy Twombly used to work, reducing form to a series of spontaneous gestures. Look at the top rectangle. It’s a jumble of diagonal lines, almost chaotic. Then, compare it to the bottom rectangle, with its neat vertical strokes. It is as if Havrylenko is showing us the range of possibilities, the journey from chaos to order, or maybe the other way around. It's a conversation about what art can be, an exchange of ideas across time and space. It embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations, just like art should.