La Parisienne (6) 1902

This is ‘La Parisienne (6)’ a print by Jacques Villon. The color reminds me of faded photographs from my parents’ attic, sepia-toned and delicate. You can see the ghost of an image, the plate faint. There's something lovely about the imperfection of the lines, the way they build up hesitantly, like a memory being reconstructed. Look closely, and you'll notice the texture of the paper showing through. The lines are not hard-edged, they almost breathe. I love how the artist left so much space untouched; it’s like he's inviting us to participate in the creation of the image. I wonder what Villon thought about leaving so much unsaid, so much open to interpretation? Villon was the brother of Marcel Duchamp, who played around with representation in similar ways. This piece leaves room for the unexpected, the unfinished. It's more about suggestion than statement, about the beauty of the in-between.