Illustration for Nichita Stanescu's Epica Magna 1978

Sorin Dumitrescu made this illustration for Nichita Stanescu’s *Epica Magna* with what looks like a simple pencil, but the effect is anything but simple. The image feels like it's emerging from a flurry of thoughts, a process of building up meaning through layers of marks. Look at the finger, so solid and real, rendered with delicate shading, as though Dumitrescu is feeling his way around the form. The geometric shapes hover, like thoughts or memories, while the background dissolves into a matrix of lines. See how the loops and crosses almost resemble a written language? This piece reminds me of Cy Twombly’s work, with its scribbled lines and poetic sensibility. Like Twombly, Dumitrescu embraces ambiguity, inviting us to participate in the act of meaning-making. Art isn’t about answers; it’s about the questions we ask along the way.