Sevastipol 2003

Doug Ohlson created "Sevastipol" with vertical bars of color, like a Barnett Newman painting that's gone on vacation. The work emerges through trial, error, and intuition. I can almost feel the painting in process; Ohlson probably started with thin washes, letting the colors bleed and interact. Imagine him stepping back, squinting, then adding another layer to deepen the tone! The paint isn't super thick, but there's a real sense of surface, like he's building up layers of light. That intense black bar is striking, like a shadow that makes the other colors vibrate. I’m thinking about Agnes Martin here and how she used grids to make a space for contemplation. Ohlson's painting has a similar effect: it's simple, yet the colors sing. Painters are always chatting to each other across time, inspiring one another's creativity. It's all embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing multiple interpretations.