Composition in Black & Ochre 1957

Adja Yunkers made this abstract painting with oil. It is a dialogue between black, ochre, and a muted pink. I imagine Yunkers applying the paint in layers, each stroke a response to the one before. That black rectangle at the bottom feels so heavy, anchoring the composition. You can almost feel the weight of it, the density. It is balanced by a softer, pinkish form above. Then these horizontal strokes that seem to dissolve and erode the forms. I’m really trying to imagine what Yunkers was thinking as he was making this. It is hard to know for sure what his intentions were, but I can sense the artist's touch, his decisions, his doubts. The drips at the bottom feel like a moment of surrender, letting the paint do its thing. It is this kind of back and forth, a conversation between control and chance, that makes painting so alive.