Composition V - Large and Small Circle 1934

Werner Drewes made this dynamic woodcut print called ‘Composition V - Large and Small Circle,’ and I can just imagine the act of carving into that wood, trying things out, making marks, and seeing where it leads. It feels like this work comes out of the tradition of European modernism; it’s about creating a sense of volume and space and depth using only black and white. I love the way these geometric forms build up a kind of cityscape that’s also totally abstract. You have to kind of squint and let your imagination fill in the blanks. It makes me think about how every artist is in a conversation with every other artist, across time and space. This reminds me a little bit of some Russian constructivist work, though with an expressionist feel, but you know, I'm sure Drewes was also looking at other artists and figuring out what he wanted to say with his own mark-making. It’s all about experimenting, seeing what happens, and finding something new in the process.