Father and Daughter 1997

Miriam Schapiro made this painting, Father and Daughter, and right away what grabs me is the patchwork of colors and patterns, almost like she's building up the image from scraps of fabric. You get the sense she’s just letting the materials speak, each mark a little decision in a much bigger, wild process. The surface is so alive, isn’t it? It's thick in some places, and then washes of color peek through in others, like she's revealing the history of the painting right there on the canvas. Look at the way she paints the father's shirt, with all those stripes and dots. Each mark is its own little world, but together they make up something bigger, more complex. And those flowers in the background, wow! They are so vibrant and full of life, almost bursting off the canvas. This reminds me of how Lee Krasner used collage in her paintings, building up layers of meaning and texture. Schapiro makes us rethink how we see, embracing the mess and the beauty of not having all the answers.