Untitled 2014

Sofia Areal made this untitled painting using black and white paint, and, wow, it's a trip. It’s giving me major process vibes; you can really see the hand of the artist here. Take a look at the contrast: on one panel, you've got this solid, almost weighty black form, anchored by these delicate, searching lines, while on the other, the paint is slung around in these energetic loops, like she's trying to lasso something. It's like two different languages being spoken on the same page, or two different sides of the same coin. That solid black feels so grounded, and those loose loops, they're all about movement and change, and you can see the brushstrokes so clearly, you can practically feel her energy. I get a similar feeling of the push and pull of opposites from Robert Motherwell's work. This piece seems like a conversation, a meditation on finding balance in the chaos.