This is one of Innes's 'Identified Forms' paintings, a series begun in 1990. Although the gashes and trails look like random marks inflicted on the canvas, they were created by coaxing turpentine to run down in rivulets made with a fine brush. This removes paint from the dark base layer, exposing the bare canvas beneath. Innes wished to create the impression of 'discovering' pre-existing forms rather than simply creating marks on the canvas. Hovering in the dark, the ambiguous stains suggest something natural and elemental, a state between solid and void.