Hannah Wilke
Ashton Cooper, Artforum
May 2023
Let’s begin at the end, with a group of four untitled watercolors that Hannah Wilke made in 1991, at the age of fifty-one, while slowly dying of lymphoma. Each drawing features an outline of a magenta flower (perhaps a zinnia or dahlia) rendered with long, dripping strokes, allowing the white of the paper to stand in for the lanky wilting flesh of each petal.
Wilke used the medium to great effect: In one image, a deep black-purple becomes a wine-stain burgundy that bleeds into the dark crepuscular yellow of the central floret—the same color as bruised pale skin. The petals sag downward, causing the lines to appear to be leaking. They are pretty, but bleeding. […]