Untitled 2012

I can imagine Tiberiy Szilvashi making this work with oil paint, maybe not knowing exactly how it would turn out. It’s kind of a moody blue rectangle with some little white interjections. I imagine him, wrestling with the painting! Building up the paint, scraping it back, adding more, coaxing it into being. It looks like a big experiment. I’ve been there myself, feeling the uncertainty, and the excitement, of not quite knowing what I'm doing. Look at the surface, how thick and almost crusty the paint is in some areas. And those little pops of white? They are like stars in the night sky. It’s a physical thing, this painting, made with hands and brushes and maybe a palette knife or two. I am sure Tiberiy Szilvashi was looking at a lot of art himself, in museums or in books, learning from the greats while trying to find his own voice. The conversation between artists never ends, and this painting is part of that ongoing exchange.