One of the preeminent American painters of the twentieth century, Agnes Martin created subtle and evocative canvases using limited compositional motifs.

Martin held a longstanding interest in Taoism and other Eastern philosophies with her work often exploring the integrations between the body and mind.

In The Islands (1961), colours lightly applied, yellow dots, and pencilled lines arranged within a perfect grid induce a meditative state through their uniformity and repetition.

On closer inspection, however, subtle differences emerge between the elements: from the length of the lines to the shape of the dots.

Dissolving the illusion of geometric precision, these irregularities perhaps suggest that perfection is not something to be found in nature but a mental experience produced through engaging with the world.