Upside Down Flowers 1976

Jonathan Borofsky made this drawing, "Upside Down Flowers", on paper with graphite, and, well, it’s pretty much what it says on the tin! What grabs me is the texture – that lovely, soft, slightly smudged surface. It's so clear that Borofsky built up this image slowly, bit by bit. You can see where he's reworked areas, adjusted the tone, like around the vase. It’s about the process of finding the image, not just stating it. Look at the petals, so delicate, each one defined by a slightly darker edge. There’s this sense of weight and lightness existing together. And the upside-downness – it throws everything off-kilter, makes you question your assumptions. It reminds me a little of Philip Guston’s late work, this embrace of a kind of clumsy honesty. Art's a conversation, right? Always asking questions, never quite settling on one answer.