LX 1973

Joan Rosenwald Scott's "LX" is full of geometric shapes in blue and purple ink. I can imagine the artist pushing the ink across the surface, making decisive gestures with the squeegee. It’s not smooth. It feels like she was trying to make each shape interact with the others in a playful way, so that the work comes into being through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Joan as I think about how tricky printmaking is. The build-up of ink on the surface is like a conversation between the artist and the materials, each informing the other in a feedback loop. The composition almost has a language-like quality, like a series of signs and symbols. The artist and the viewer are both engaged in a process of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world, and she encourages us to reflect on our own embodied experience. It's all about how the artists inspire one another’s creativity. I love that.