The Sea 2003

Agnes Martin made "The Sea" with ink on canvas, and what strikes me right away is how she turned this grid into something so emotional. It’s almost all about the surface, this really dark ground with all these horizontal lines. The lines aren't perfect, they waver and break. There’s a kind of quiet, slow attentiveness in their making; it's like watching waves on a still night. It reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly, especially in the way he’d layer marks, creating a surface that feels both delicate and monumental. Look at one of those slightly thicker lines near the bottom. See how it wobbles? That little wobble tells you so much about Martin's hand, her presence, and the time she spent with this piece. It's not about perfection, it’s about being present with the making. It makes you think about how art can be this ongoing conversation across time, an exchange of ideas. It's a reminder that art embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations.