Vanda 2017

Sofia Bonati made this drawing, Vanda, using fine black lines that create a hypnotic pattern. The evenness of the lines suggests a commitment to process, but it's also a bit obsessive, don't you think? I love how the simple lines give the figure of Vanda an otherworldly feel, like she’s stepping out of another dimension. The maze on top of her head is like a thought bubble, her thoughts made visible! Notice the way the artist uses the same kind of repetitive lines for both the maze, and the background, creating a link between the internal world of thought, and the external world. The overall effect reminds me of the surrealist art of René Magritte. But where Magritte used oil paint to create a dreamlike state, Bonati uses humble materials, pen on paper, to ask questions about how we navigate the world, and how we think about ourselves. Is she lost? Is she guiding us? Who knows?