Composition #22 1979

Yuri Zlotnikov made this watercolor, Composition #22, with all the sensitivity of a practiced hand. Look at the way he works with the fluidity of the medium, allowing the colors to blend and bleed into one another, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere. The colors are soft and muted, almost pastel-like. He works with thin layers of paint that let the whiteness of the paper come through. The brushstrokes are loose and gestural. See how he creates these horizontal strokes of brown, green, and lavender in the foreground that suggests a field or a landscape? And then above it all, the soft blues, pinks, and yellows that hint at a distant mountain range and a cloudy sky. Zlotnikov’s process reminds me of the work of the Swedish painter Hilma af Klint, who, like Zlotnikov, was interested in expressing spiritual and philosophical ideas through abstract forms. Both artists seem to understand that art is not just about representing the world, but about creating new ways of seeing and experiencing it. This is art that embraces openness and possibility.