Untitled 1981

Editor: Here we have Jake Berthot’s *Untitled* from 1981, a mixed-media drawing. I’m struck by the tension between the heavily worked, almost turbulent, left side and the sparse, delicate lines on the right. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: It’s interesting you picked up on the tension. For me, Berthot often uses this push and pull—this visual "dialogue," if you will—to represent the struggle of bringing form out of chaos. The dense, grey area feels like a ground, almost geological, from which those tentative floral or vegetal shapes are emerging. Editor: Geological, that's a great way to describe it. I hadn’t really thought about the ground being…active. But is it truly chaos, or a different kind of order that we just don’t immediately recognize? Curator: Exactly! Isn't that the crux of it? Maybe "chaos" is too strong a word. It's more like potential energy waiting to be released. That heavily worked ground, to me, looks like memory, or the weight of experience. Those lighter lines feel incredibly fragile, vulnerable even. As though Berthot is documenting a moment of delicate unfolding amidst a history of… something. I can almost feel the artist carefully, tentatively, coaxing those lines into being. Don’t you think? Editor: Absolutely. It’s like he’s hesitant, unsure whether they will fully emerge or retreat back into the background. What medium do you think lends best to the idea? Curator: The mixed media element, to me, suggests a conversation between different approaches to image-making – between the considered application of paint and the impulsive scratch of a line. Each telling its own truth, like layers of history being revealed. What a beautiful contradiction! Editor: It is! I never thought of the layering and choice of medium in such a profound way! So, perhaps not chaos, but potential...a world in becoming? Curator: Precisely! Berthot offers a glimpse of creation in process. Now tell me, isn’t that simply marvelous?