Study for "Loom" 1965

This is a study for "Loom," made with graphite on paper, probably in 1963, by Seymour Lipton. What strikes me is the way Lipton coaxes form out of the most rudimentary marks. There's a real sense of discovery, of feeling his way through the dark. The texture is rough, raw. You can almost feel the grain of the graphite stick against the paper. Look at the way he's built up these dense, scribbled areas, especially in the central form, and then set them off against these stark, blank spaces. It's like he's wrestling with something, trying to bring it into being. The whole composition seems to be emerging from a shadowy void. The vertical strokes that create the column on the right are so direct. It reminds me of some of the early expressionist sculptors, like Barlach, who were also interested in this tension between abstraction and figuration. I love the way it leaves so much open to interpretation; it’s not about answers, but about the process of searching.