Female Image. From the series 'Search for Pushkin's Female Images' 1970

This striking female image is by Hryhorii Havrylenko, part of his series 'Search for Pushkin's Female Images.' Looking closely, you see it’s all about the line. See how the hatching method creates the depth? The density and direction of the strokes are so carefully considered, it’s like a kind of meditation on form. The texture is created purely through the act of mark-making. The way the lines build up around her hair and the shadows behind her give her presence, while her face is only simply drawn. It is the negative space of the page which defines her features and expression. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, you know? Someone who lets the line and the grid create a space. But, ultimately, it’s the gaps, the unfilled spaces, that invite us in. It’s less about a fixed image and more about the process of seeing, feeling, and imagining. Art invites ambiguity.