Four Abstract Compositions 1965

Hryhorii Havrylenko made these four abstract compositions with ink on paper, probably around 1965. Can you imagine him, methodically inking these little squares, one after the other? These feel very personal to me. The controlled use of the square and the contrasting ink create a sense of order, but the hand-drawn lines add a layer of vulnerability and humanity. There is a sense of time, the time it takes to fill in each little line. The lines, at times rigid and at others erratic, create a powerful tension. It is as if the artist used this artwork to navigate an emotional path, one we can still walk today. It reminds me that artists are always speaking to one another, finding new ways to express the complex relationship between their inner selves and the world. It is such a simple gesture repeated and echoed. How else might we make ourselves visible?