Old Lady 1994

Maria Bozoky made this watercolor and ink drawing, "Old Lady," with a restless energy. Look at how the lines hover and flicker—you can almost see her searching for the form, finding it and losing it again. I can imagine Bozoky, eyes close to the paper, gently coaxing the image into being. She's using the watery surface to her advantage; the colors bleed and blend, creating a kind of shimmering atmosphere around the figure. See how the blues and grays wash into the pale pink of her face, suggesting a fragile, almost ethereal presence. The artist's marks feels intimate, almost like a secret shared between artist and subject. In a way, the sketch reminds me of Picasso’s line drawings. Bozoky shares his interest in capturing the essence of a figure with minimal means. There's a kind of magic in that, don't you think? It shows that art is an ongoing conversation, a dialogue across time and space.