De Kracht Van Het Wezen 1981

Anton Heyboer made this work, "De Kracht Van Het Wezen," using etching techniques, a world of diluted acids and waxy grounds to eat away at metal plates, transferring images onto paper. The textures here are achieved through a labor-intensive printmaking process. The acid subtly bites into the metal, creating lines and tones, which appear as stark contrasts against the white paper, and as smudges where perhaps the plate wasn't properly cleaned. The resulting image, otherworldly and surreal, hints at the many steps of labor involved in its production. These methods are linked to the tradition of printmaking, where technical skill meets artistic vision, and manual dexterity meets the chemical exactitude of the industrial. Heyboer pushes against the traditional boundaries of art. His choice of printmaking as a medium adds layers of meaning to his work, inviting us to see the connections between process, materiality, and the narratives embedded within.