Female Image 1965

This 'Female Image' is by Hryhorii Havrylenko and it's pure process, all those carefully drawn lines, building up the form. The tone is almost completely monochromatic, just subtle shifts in density of the line to suggest light and shadow. It’s fascinating how Havrylenko has created such a solid-looking form out of just these tiny marks, it feels almost architectural, like a blueprint or technical drawing. See how the lines follow the contours of the face, creating the illusion of depth and volume? It is almost like he is mapping her face. I love the way Havrylenko embraced the limitations of his medium. In some ways it reminds me of the work of Agnes Martin, with its quiet, meditative quality and emphasis on process over product. But while Martin was all about abstraction, Havrylenko grounds us in the everyday with this portrait. It’s a reminder that art is not just about the end result, but also about the journey, the conversation between artist and material.