Untitled c. 1950s

This untitled work on paper was made by Dorothy Dehner, who was born in 1901. I can see her, bent over this small painting, trying out some shapes. It looks like watercolour and ink, and everything is kind of bleeding and smudging into each other. She’s got these forms floating on the page, they remind me of vessels and building blocks, all rendered in earthy tones. It’s like she’s created her own little world right there, with everything outlined in dark ink. There are these vertical and horizontal lines scratched over the surface, connecting the forms and creating a sense of depth. They’re kind of like the scaffolding of the painting. You know, it makes me think about other women artists like Hilma af Klint, and their shared interest in exploring abstract forms. Dehner is really showing us how a few simple marks can create something that feels expansive and full of possibilities. Like a conversation between the past and the present.