Flowers 1975

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this line drawing of flowers at an unknown date with delicate strokes. It’s the kind of drawing that seems simple but it's totally not. I wonder if he was trying to just capture the basic essence of the flowers – those long leafy lines that seem to sway in a breeze? It's interesting how he uses so few marks to evoke the sense of the plant. Did he stop there, or was it a base for something more? The way the lines are so open, so unburdened by detail, it's like he’s inviting us to complete the image ourselves. It reminds me of Twombly, in a way, who also used a spare, poetic line. You know, it's like they're both whispering, 'Here's a start – now you take it from here.' That's what’s cool about painting anyway, right? We’re all in this big conversation, picking up where others left off. Painting is embodied, it's ambiguous, it's always open to new interpretations.