Dress c. 1936

Rosalia Lane’s ‘Dress’ is a drawing on paper. The green and white design immediately tells you something about the natural world, it is a gentle colour palette. The artist is mapping out a process for us here. Look at how the texture is achieved through layering of thin washes of color. The strokes are almost like stitches on fabric. The way she uses these colors creates a soft luminosity, but it’s equally grounded and humble. The vertical marks elongate the dress, there is a real sense of movement and flow. The eye jumps between details, trying to decipher where the eye should land. This drawing reminds me a lot of the work of my pal, Phillip Guston. Both artists are interested in the art-making process and celebrate the ambiguous nature of marks. We see that ambiguity in 'Dress', nothing is spelled out too clearly.