Lady Burn 1976

Friedel Dzubas made this painting, with its gorgeous, blurred blocks of color, by pouring diluted paint onto canvas, maybe even staining the fabric. I just love the way the colors push and pull against each other, like a conversation happening right there on the canvas. I can imagine Dzubas moving around the canvas, almost like a dance, letting the paint flow and pool, coaxing these shapes into being. There’s a real sense of freedom, of trusting the process. Look at the way that red bleeds into the blue! That's a gesture full of feeling, like a sudden burst of energy or emotion. You can see the influence of Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, the color field painters, but Dzubas brings his own sensibility to it. Painting is always this ongoing dialogue between artists, across time, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. This is a form of expression that embraces ambiguity, where multiple interpretations and meanings come into being.