sand 2018

Chaokun Wang made "sand" with what looks like a camera and a long view. Look at the way the color shifts ever so subtly from the pale, warm hue of the sand to the cool blues of the sky. I wonder what Wang was thinking when he made this? Maybe about horizons and edges, the meeting of earth and sky. It makes me think of Agnes Martin’s subtle gradations and serene compositions—how she created so much with so little. Or maybe it's a totally different direction for Wang! "sand" suggests so much: boundlessness, simplicity, and a kind of quiet contemplation. It’s like a breath held, a moment suspended. This kind of distillation is what artists do, taking the stuff of the world and finding its resonant heart. It leaves you with a feeling, an idea, a question. And that’s the ongoing conversation that we have with art and with each other, across time, inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling.