Grain of Sand 1965

Abdul Mati Klarwein made *Grain of Sand* with paint, layering the images and colors. He’s definitely someone who understood art-making as a process, a kind of dance between intention and letting go. Looking closely, the colors are wild! So many figures, and they’re not just laid out neatly, but woven together like a tapestry. The texture seems smooth, which tricks the eye because the painting is so busy and full, yet the smoothness gives the image a dreamlike quality. There’s one spot where a woman’s face is split in two, half smiling, half… I don’t know, more serious? It’s like he’s showing us all the different feelings we can have at once. Klarwein reminds me a bit of Peter Saul. Both of them just throw everything in there, no holding back. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the energy of life, with all its messiness and contradictions. That’s what makes art exciting, right? It’s never just one thing.