Wake

To create this work’s distinctive texture, Lee Mullican used a blunt straight-edge printer’s knife to build up highlights. Forming a line of paint on the edge of the blade, he then pressed it onto the canvas. The resulting surface produces a shimmering visual effect as figural elements come in and out of focus. These forms express Mullican’s belief in the interconnectedness of inner and cosmic dimensions, a concept drawn from Chickasaw spiritual influences that the artist encountered growing up in Oklahoma. As Mullican later described, “I thought space, both the inner space of the psyche and the cosmos, were the ultimate dimensions for art, and you could say they are both the same. Many ancient peoples knew that. Modern art just needed to catch up.”