Pale Painting: 6 NY 07 2007

Marcia Hafif made this "Pale Painting" with thin layers of creamy paint. I love to imagine her in the studio, mixing these pigments, testing and applying them to the canvas with a kind of quiet deliberation. The surface looks so smooth and even, yet I know that this simplicity comes after a long, considered process. What was she thinking about when she painted the work? I like to imagine a certain curiosity at play, and a playful sense of restraint. It is fascinating how such seemingly simple colour combinations – here cream and pale blue – can communicate so much feeling. I remember Agnes Martin's subdued palette, with the same sense of quiet dedication, as well as the systematic approach of artists like Sol LeWitt. Hafif's paintings are not just about colour; they’re about the act of painting itself, the physicality of applying paint to a surface, and the questions that arise in the process. They remind me that artists are always in conversation with each other, building on and responding to the ideas of those who came before.