Starry Night 1994

Joan Witek made this intense ink drawing, "Starry Night," on paper. It’s like a field of black suns, each with its own radiating corona. Imagine Witek, leaning over the paper, letting the ink bloom outwards in these circular forms. Maybe she started with one, then another, each a kind of experiment, seeing how far the ink would flow, how the paper would respond. I sympathize with the artist in their desire to work within self-imposed rules. It makes me think about the physicality of ink, how it stains and spreads, how it can be both precise and unpredictable. Look closely, and you can see the texture of the paper, the way the ink pools and gathers. There’s a real sense of touch and presence in how the image was made. This reminds me of other process-based artists who explore repetition, like Sol LeWitt or Agnes Martin, but with a darker, more gothic edge. These artists are all in an ongoing conversation across time, and inspire one another’s creativity. Painting is a form of expression which embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.