Blue and Red, but Mostly Blue 2016

Timur Akhriev made this painting with oil paint, layering strokes of blues and reds. Can you imagine him in the studio, trying to balance the two colors? The blue feels dominant, almost like a heavy sky weighing down on the red below. I wonder, what was on his mind as he was building up these layers? Was he thinking about Rothko's blocks of color, or maybe Titian's rich reds? The paint looks like it’s been applied wet-on-wet, which is a brave way of painting, not allowing the underlayers to dry. See how the brushstrokes around the edges of the red turban and the woman's face are soft and blurred? Akhriev has created a surface that feels alive, in flux. Painters are always in conversation with each other, across time, inspiring each other to see and feel the world in new ways. It’s a process of questioning and re-questioning, through which images and feelings emerge.