Closer (Kyiv) Jazz Concert Program 2018

Kinder Album made this image, a program for a jazz concert in Kyiv, using ink and watercolor. Look how the washes of color float around the figures, more like feelings than places, blobs of pigment that push and pull against the drawn lines. It’s that tension between wet, amorphous fields of color, and the quick, graphic quality of the drawing that grabs me. See the way the watercolor bleeds and blossoms, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere? There is a real joy in the unpredictable nature of the medium. I particularly like the way the form of the French Horn intersects the form of the floating nude, her body becoming part of the instrument. This piece reminds me a little of Elizabeth Murray's prints, especially in the use of layered imagery, fragmented forms, and bold color. Both artists seem interested in how abstraction and representation can coexist and enrich one another. Ultimately, this image invites us to embrace ambiguity and to find beauty in the unexpected.