The dream-like images on this sheet demonstrate how Pollock improvised as he worked. What were perhaps free-form lines in the center of the sheet, for example, became a reclining female figure once he added details that suggest a breast. And in the lower left corner, a face materializes from dense scribbles that obscure a bird with outstretched wings. A balance of chance and intention, this approach was influenced by the Surrealist practice of automatic drawing, in which the hand moves unfettered by the conscious mind.
Gallery label from Jackson Pollock: A Collection Survey, 1934-1954, November 22, 2015–May 1, 2016.