Conversations in Paint: From Cy Twombly to My Own Studio Practice
Copyright: (c) Cy Twombly Foundation / Photo (c) Tate
When I first encountered Cy Twombly’s paintings, I was struck by the tension between restraint and abandon. His looping marks, hesitant scribbles, and bursts of color seemed both fragile and monumental, as if each gesture carried the weight of something unsaid. Twombly’s canvases weren’t about representation, but about language: the way marks can behave like words, phrases, or entire conversations.
This way of thinking about painting has stayed with me. In my own work, I see each line or brushstroke as an entry into dialogue, not only with the surface, but with myself and with whoever stands in front of the piece. Sometimes the conversation is tender, other times it’s full of friction. There are pauses, overlaps, interruptions, and moments of surrender.
My current series, Conversations, grows from this lineage. The marks speak to each other across the canvas, layered and shifting, like the way thoughts and emotions overlap in real life. At times the gestures resist one another, creating tension and pull; at other times they soften into harmony. This push and pull mirrors how we relate to others, the silences, the misunderstandings, the flashes of intimacy, and the spaces where meaning slips through.
Influenced by Twombly’s expressive freedom and Joan Mitchell’s layered intensity, I approach painting as a way of listening as much as speaking. Each surface is a record of response: to memory, to nature, to the body, and to the desire for connection.
Ultimately, these works are less about presenting answers and more about holding space for dialogue, between artist and canvas, between marks, and between viewer and work. In this way, the paintings remain open, unfinished in meaning, waiting for each new voice to enter the conversation.
This entry is part of my artist journal, where I share the ideas and influences shaping my practice. You can explore available works from the Conversations series here.