Delirious Hem 1995

Ellen Gallagher's "Delirious Hem" is this quiet storm of layered meanings, made with ink, paper, and maybe a little bit of magic. The sienna blocks floating on the canvas? They remind me of stacks of pages, like someone took a ream of paper and turned it into a sculpture. And those subtle, almost ghostly motifs dotted around? Like tiny, secret languages. The way Gallagher uses repetition feels like a mantra, a meditation. Each horizontal line within the blocks, each little shape around it, is carefully placed, but there's also this sense of freedom, like she's letting the materials speak for themselves. It’s not about perfection, but about the process, the layering, the building up of meaning through simple gestures. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, but with a wink and a nod to something deeper, something maybe only Gallagher knows. It’s a real invitation to get lost in the details.