Untitled 1996

Ilse D'Hollander, sometime before 1997, made this painting with oil on canvas, a dreamy field of pale blue. It’s all about the surface, isn’t it? The way the paint is dragged and layered, like a wall that's been painted over and over. She's not trying to hide the process, but rather reveal it; each brushstroke a little decision, a little correction. I keep coming back to the ochre lines that form this loose ‘V’ shape. They’re not quite meeting, not quite symmetrical. That little gap, that imperfection, is where the painting really lives for me. It’s almost architectural, like a half-remembered sketch of a building. This kind of off-kilter geometry reminds me of the work of Forrest Bess, another painter who wasn’t afraid to let his subconscious lead the way. And like Bess, D’Hollander shows us that art doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful; in fact, sometimes it’s the imperfections that make it truly sing.