Untitled 1995

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri made this painting using earth pigments, sometime around the turn of the century. The shapes in the painting feel so grounded, like the natural world itself. I love the way the circles pulse outward. And the earth tones, that warm brown and ochre, they give such a sense of the desert. It’s like looking at a map, not just of a place, but of a way of life, a culture. Take a look at how the artist has used dots and lines to fill the spaces between the circles, that is a clever move. It’s a very specific kind of mark-making, which makes me think about the physicality of painting – what it means to move paint around on a surface. Thinking about artists who embrace pattern and repetition, I’m reminded of the work of Agnes Martin. Of course, their styles are wildly different, but they both find a kind of freedom within self-imposed constraints. Both artists show that painting is really an invitation, a way to see the world differently.