Upon first glance, the image "Dervish" seems to be a cluttered mess of black and white that has been accented with occasional and seemingly arbitrarily placed lines of thick black and red; however, upon closer inspection, one can see that the artist's use of line is not as capricious as it may seem. The piece is developed on layers of lines -- the "background" looks like the blueprint to a building or a technical drawing from a set of instructions. Depth and form are also implied with the use of lines: grids move into the background on both sides of the piece and details get more condensed and darker as they recede. As well, emphasis is placed on the center where the highest concentration of lines is present. From this darker contrasting center, the lines move outward in sinuous billowing fashion -- not taking any real corporal form, but implying the movement of waves, wind, and giving the downy appearance of clouds.
From this wild use of line, the piece seems to bring the viewer a chaotic and explosive feeling. On top of the sterile and flat technical lines, the artist has created this whirling cluster of movement that controls the feeling of the work. It brings excitement and interest to the piece. The huge mass of indecipherable lines exists overtop or inside of the technical space that the artist has created and is moving out of the confines of the technical blueprints. This may allude to some idea the artist might have regarding confinement and breaking free from constraints put upon us by society or some other force.
Overall I feel that the work is compelling and interesting. It's not necessarily a piece that catches one's fancy upon immediate inspection because the abstractness makes it a bit austere, but I think the detail and movement of it really draw the viewer in and make it an intriguing piece.
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