on cy twombly at the getty
untitled (to sappho) 1976
the chunk of colour feels lonely until you slow down enough to decipher the text. the handwriting is scrawled long & pulling against itself–stretching into the margins.
it’s sappho. recounting the violent crushing of purple petal underfoot. the visceral feeling of it. the petals bruised from the pressure smashing down on them once delicate, now devolving into only colour. devolving into feeling.
the purple makes us feel the ache of the bruise blooming on pristine skin.
the getty center’s cy twombly exhibition, “making past present,” runs until 30 october, 2022.