Two Sioux Indians 1952

Roy Lichtenstein made this woodcut print called, Two Sioux Indians, sometime in 1952. I love how he’s used the grainy texture of the wood to create this black and white patterned image, it really gives the piece a raw, handmade feel. Looking closely, you can see how Lichtenstein has really embraced the physical aspect of the woodcut. The lines are bold and chunky, not trying to hide the tool marks. Take that zig-zag pattern in the centre, those cuts are really deep! It's like he's digging into the material, almost wrestling with it. I love how Lichtenstein has taken this idea of process, where the action of carving and printing becomes really important. It makes me think of early Modernists like Kirchner, who were also interested in primitive art forms. This print, in its own way, is part of that conversation about art as an ongoing process of experimentation.