Untitled Part VI 1988

This untitled work was made by Cy Twombly, and seems to have come into being through layers of shifting, emerging intuition. I imagine Twombly here, circling around and around, responding, adding, and scraping away. He’s sympathetic to the accidental mark, trusting that these gestures can communicate feeling and intention. Look how the fluid brushstrokes and layered paint create a sense of depth and movement, like you could fall right into the painting. The colours – greens, whites, blacks – feel elemental. Twombly’s loose, gestural marks are so evocative of his wider practice, but also share affinities with other process-oriented painters. It feels like a conversation, doesn’t it? All these artists sharing and exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting at its best is an embodied expression which embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.