Female image 1975

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this pen and ink drawing of a woman at an unknown date. The cross-hatching to describe the woman's hair, and the shadow behind her head, is a real testament to mark making as a process. You can see the artist working out the planes of her face by the direction of the strokes. Look closely and you’ll notice how the simple lines create depth. The texture isn’t just visual; you can almost feel the scratch of the pen on paper, the slight unevenness giving it a handmade, intimate quality. The way the lines vary in density gives the image a subtle glow, the areas of light and shadow play across her features in a really compelling way. This piece reminds me a little of the drawings of Henri Michaux – especially in the obsessive, almost meditative quality of the mark-making. Both artists seem interested in how simple marks can evoke complex emotions, embracing the ambiguity of the medium.