Week #47, Rhythmic Lines IV

Untitled (Black Curving Rectangles), 1985, ink on paper, 11 ¼” x 7”

Here is one more work on paper by Dusti Bongé with just lines. Despite its parenthetical title, this work still appears as mostly composed of varying vertical marks with just a few horizontal strokes hinting at (rect)-angular forms. Some of the verticals do have a gentle bow. 

This work has a very different feel than the previous ones. In those pieces the lines are determined, solid, and rhythmic, regardless of their spacing or thickness. But in this piece the lines are treated differently, with a more delicate touch. And although they are all ink on paper works, their divergent qualities show the remarkable range Dusti can achieve by just applying the same medium with a different tool, whether it be an ink pen, felt tip marker, or in the case of this drawing, an ink brush. 

The dominant lines are soft, blurred and even smudged, some of them dissolving into a wash of gray with barely a trace of solidity. Others appear almost feathered. Dusti seems to have approached this composition in calligraphic fashion, alternately applying the ink brush swiftly or languidly, with dense ink or a thin wash. 

As a result of these gentler, varying qualities of each of the individual marks, they also don’t have the same rhythmic austerity together. There is a subtler cadence as the lines move up and down, get heavier and lighter, and longer and shorter. Moreover, the slight curvature in some of the brush strokes adds a touch of fluidity. Occasionally, the verticals are interrupted by delicate horizontal dashes. And once again there is some gentle stippling,

Overall, this results in a composition that is more serene and less pattern oriented. As such, it is visually soothing and lyrical. Quite likely, it also offered a soothing process to Dusti while creating it.