California Landscape 1 1984

Ruth Fine made this print called California Landscape 1, and the cool thing about prints is that they’re not precious, they’re all about process. The texture is all in the lines, which carve up the space into what might be trees, fields, or rocks. But it’s not really any of those things, right? More like, the *idea* of those things, filtered through Ruth Fine’s own way of seeing. There’s an energy in the mark making, like she’s chasing something that moves. Look at the bunch of little circles clustered in the middle, and the quick, scribbled lines all around. It reminds me of a Cy Twombly, but with less of the drama and more of a kind of quiet observation. It's like she's saying, "Here's how I see the world, take it or leave it." And I, for one, am taking it.