Castle of Ladakh 1933

Nicholas Roerich painted this vision of the Castle of Ladakh with what looks like oil on canvas, and it's really got me thinking about process, about how artists build up a world from nothing. Roerich’s got this incredible way of building up form with blocks of color, look at the way he uses these purples, reds and oranges, and how he models the forms from a single color tone. It's not just about depicting a place, it's about constructing it, piece by piece. I love how the paint isn't trying to hide itself. You can see the brushstrokes, the layers, the decisions made along the way. It’s like Roerich is saying, "Here's how I see it, here's how I build it." It reminds me of some of the early cubists like Braque, who were also interested in breaking down forms and rebuilding them on the canvas. It’s like a conversation across time, these artists talking to each other through their work, figuring out new ways of seeing and being.