The Fourth 'Book of Schemes'. Album #2, the First Folder 1978

Valerii Lamakh made this drawing, 'The Fourth Book of Schemes', with coloured pencils, as part of an album of studies. The piece has this incredible intricacy, like a complex geometric puzzle. The lines are crisp and clean, creating these tiny interlocking shapes within the larger triangle. The colors – pink, green, blue, gold – they're all so carefully chosen and placed, giving the whole thing a sense of vibrancy. I love how it's not just about the image, but about the *process* of making. You can almost feel Lamakh's hand moving across the page, carefully filling in each section, one tiny line at a time. There’s something meditative about it, almost like a form of visual prayer. For me, it has echoes of Agnes Martin’s grids, but with a playful, almost psychedelic twist. Like Martin, Lamakh is interested in the spiritual possibilities of abstraction. This piece reminds me that art isn’t about answers, but about the questions we ask along the way.