Operation of Operation 1983

Oleksandr Aksinin made this watercolor painting, Operation of Operation, and it's a trip! The way the red and green wrestle with each other is so satisfying; it’s like watching colors duke it out, finding their place. There's a tangible quality to the surface, you can almost feel the paper grain. The thin washes of color create a luminosity, a sort of see-through quality, as if you are peering into another dimension. Take a look at the row of figures in the middle. The white dabs that make up the heads of the figures are like tiny beacons. Each one seems to hold a secret, a little moment of surprise amidst the machinery. Aksinin's work shares a kinship with artists like Paul Klee, who also explored the terrain between abstraction and figuration, inviting us to get lost in the joy of artmaking. It’s a reminder that art is not about answers, but about the questions we ask.