Washing Child c. 1920

Eugene Higgins made this etching, "Washing Child," using a plate to transfer the image onto paper. It's all about the process, right? How do you make a mark? What does it mean? Look at the density of those lines, like a storm of tiny scratches building up the darks. See how they cluster and then loosen to suggest the form of the figures? Higgins isn't hiding the work; it's all right there on the surface. The way he renders the folds of the dress with such short, choppy strokes—it almost feels sculptural. And then that little foot dangling over the edge of the tub, so vulnerable and real. It reminds me of Kathe Kollwitz, with that same sense of empathy and raw emotion, but Higgins has a lightness, a kind of gentleness in his touch. Art isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask along the way.