Untitled 1981

Luchita Hurtado made this untitled painting with what looks like thin layers of oil, and the colors are like earthy reds, browns, and shadowy greens. Imagine her, right? Standing there, maybe turning the canvas a few times, trying to catch the light. She's building up the image, those dark mountains and that crack of lightning—or is it a river? It’s like she’s pulling the landscape up from inside herself, from memory or maybe a dream. I’m really moved by how she renders the hands, almost like they're emerging from the ground. It’s not just a painting; it's an embodied experience. All those thin layers of paint creating depth but also this sense of breath, of something living and growing. Painters like Hilma af Klint and Agnes Martin come to mind. They are all connected in this long, ongoing conversation across time and space, and it's like a reminder of the enduring power of paint to explore the seen and unseen.