Untitled 2019

This untitled artwork is a small drawing, about the size of a sheet of paper, made by Thomas Riesner. It’s got these three figures that look like distressed owls rendered in black and blue ink, with these rivulets of red coming down from their eyes. I wonder, did Riesner start with a vague idea, or did it all come out in the execution? It's all so immediate, there's no shading or blending. I like to imagine him caught in a mood, furiously drawing these figures, barely pausing for breath. There’s something about the rawness of the lines, the drips of ink, and the stark contrast of colors that really grabs you. You see how the blue forms this web-like structure, connecting the figures, while the black outlines give them this haunting presence? I'm reminded that painting is an ongoing experiment, an artist's messy, beautiful, and imperfect way of making sense of the world. We're all just scribbling and smearing, hoping something meaningful emerges.