R.T. Garden 2020

Pavlo Makov’s “R.T. Garden” appears to be made from many dark marks on a light surface, meticulously placed. I wonder about the act of making it, the quiet concentration, the potential for tiny errors, the shifting and emerging of the image through intuition. I sympathize with the artist as I try to imagine the making of this piece, and what Makov might have been thinking. The small dark marks gather together to make more significant forms and I love the way these coalesce into an undulating garden-city, like something from a dream. The texture is rich; you can almost feel the surface. Each gesture looks so intentional and communicates the feeling of a place. Makov’s wider practice explores themes of urbanism and landscape, something you can really see in this piece. He reminds me a bit of Piranesi and his obsessive architectural prints. Ultimately, artists are always having a dialogue across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is all about embracing ambiguity, allowing multiple interpretations, rather than just one fixed meaning.