Sandhill Country 2013

Abie Loy Kemarre painted Sandhill Country using what looks like a fine brush, to make lines that build up and echo, that kind of feel like a color chart, or even, in some ways, Agnes Martin. There’s something really rhythmic about the lines in this painting. They are very fine, and the colors are very particular – there's something very deliberate about them. I wonder, are these lines topographical or cartographical? Maybe they are like the concentric rings of a tree trunk, each one marking a passage of time. What I mean is, the colors sit next to each other, and they vibrate, which is a funny thing for a painting to do. Look at how the delicate whites that bisect the painting become so important. They create a strong sense of verticality, almost splitting it in two, but also holding it together, which is something I try to do with my own work too. This painting reminds me a bit of the work of Hilma af Klint, in the way it manages to be both highly patterned and also deeply felt. It shows us that art is never just about what you see, but also about how you feel.