QUAD (897) 1997

Creighton Michael made QUAD (897), a drawing of intersecting lines and shapes on paper. It looks like he's searching for something, right? The surface is alive with thin washes and erasures, a real push-pull of charcoal and graphite. See how the lines aren't precious or overworked? It's like he's thinking out loud, mapping out an idea right in front of us. It’s a conversation, a diagram, or a puzzle that’s still being worked out. I love the way he lets the process be visible, embracing the imperfections and pentimenti. There's this one area, near the top, that looks like a little handwritten note, or a secret code! It gives the piece a human touch, a sense of intimacy. It reminds me of some of Cy Twombly's drawings, the way he combined gesture and text to create these open-ended fields of meaning. Art isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask, and the journeys we take in search of them.