Marlene Dumas – Painting is not Speechless

Marlene Dumas – Painting is not Speechless

On a visit to Tate Modern I came across some writing by Marlene Dumas.  I’ve always been fascinated by the connection between images, sounds and speech.  A good speaker creates pictures in our mind, a good painter creates words in our mind.

“Drawing is closer to whispering in someone’s ear,
While painting is more like the ear itself.
It contains all that has ever entered there.
It listens more than it speaks.It throws speech into the dark.
Painting is not speechless.
It overflows.
It is a drunken mermaid’s song.
Marlene Dumas 1993

Marlene Dumas