L-11 1950

Bice Lazzari made L-11 with ink and tempera on paper, and you can really see the hand of the artist in every mark. It’s all about the process. Looking at the surface, there’s this amazing contrast between the delicate, almost scribbled lines and these bold shapes that feel so immediate. The way the red sits against the brown paper gives it a kind of rawness, like the colours are fighting to be seen. I can see small flecks of unmixed pigment, which show how Lazzari built up the image in layers. This layering creates the feeling of something ancient, like a strange, coded language, written down in an archive of personal expression. This makes me think of Cy Twombly, but with a more intimate, domestic feel. Lazzari invites us to imagine something incomplete, still in progress.