Tingari Cycle 2004

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri painted "Tingari Cycle," sometime around 1950, give or take, probably using acrylic on canvas. Look at how the squares shift and tilt, not quite in rows, but more like cells dividing. I imagine the artist carefully building up each form, one next to the other. The texture looks really interesting, quite dry and matte, and I wonder if the canvas was laid flat on the ground while it was being painted. I wonder what it was like for Warlimpirrnga, making these shapes, letting them take on a life of their own. The squares feel so rhythmic; you can almost see him repeating the same gesture over and over, building up the image layer by layer. It makes me think about the way Agnes Martin made her grid paintings, like a meditation, each line a breath. It is as if each artist is building a world with its own set of rules.