Neighbourhood #6 2018

Pavlo Makov made this etching, Neighbourhood #6, sometime around 2018. Look how the lines build the forms. It reminds me of process itself, how one thing leads to another. The piece is all about texture. You’ve got these dense, dark blocks of buildings, and then these super fine lines connecting everything. The contrast is so strong. See the way the rooftops are rendered? It’s almost like they’re breathing. The whole thing feels like a map but also like a living organism, growing and changing. It’s cool how he uses the grid to create a sense of order, but then disrupts it with all these little details. There’s a real tension between control and chaos. Makov is known for these architectural landscapes, almost utopian but also kind of sinister. Think of Piranesi's etchings of prisons and imaginary architecture. It’s like they are both mapping a world, but also mapping the mind, you know? Art doesn't tell you what to think; it just opens up possibilities.