Suspended Form

One band takes the eyes and takes them completely. A second runs across the jaw and stops short of the mouth. That mouth survives in full: a row of small deliberate blocks against the cream, the most carefully made passage on the canvas. Leaving it visible is precision rather than mercy. What remains is the one faculty that cannot undo what has been done to the other. The face is bracketed between two blacks with its most articulate part left in the open, and cobalt cuts across on its own errand. The figure holds still throughout, having understood the arrangement and elected to keep its own counsel.

Walls holding this acquire jurisdiction, and the room adjusts.