Untitled (Creek Behind the House) c. 1940

Curator: Standing here before Ivan Summers' etching, simply titled "Untitled (Creek Behind the House)", made around 1940. It's a compact little landscape scene. Editor: My first thought? It's quiet. I can almost feel the biting air of a winter afternoon. The high contrast makes it almost... cinematic? Curator: Cinematic is an interesting choice. What I find compelling is its stark depiction of a rural scene, almost untouched. You see that little creek winding its way through the snowy landscape? Summers is showing us nature’s quiet resilience even under winter’s weight. It feels almost revolutionary to focus on the simplicity of nature. Editor: I agree! And look at how Summers uses the etching technique. The varying densities of line create such depth, allowing the light to play across the snow and water. The black and white, the contrast creates a feeling of isolation, don’t you think? The natural is always connected to ideas around power and access to resources and in that sense, isolation and who can "withstand" the isolating elements connects directly with race and gender. Curator: I never considered that aspect before. It makes you consider who inhabits that tiny little house. What stories unfold there? It’s easy to idealize these kinds of landscapes, but there's potentially more at play in how Summers chose this setting. Editor: Summers certainly provides room to interpret that experience through these detailed rendering techniques. Those individual etched lines—each is a choice to be included and that means decisions that represent intentional labor and attention. We can assume nothing here is simply placed without the active labor of Summers. Curator: Right! The way light reflects off of everything really makes it look cold, don't you think? As an artist, sometimes it’s all you can do to capture even the slightest suggestion of sunlight on cold water or the crust of frozen snow. Editor: It really encourages a slower, deeper kind of seeing—makes us look carefully. That's not simply about seeing snow but thinking about survival. Curator: Exactly. Now, when I look at this, I'm going to also be thinking about who actually got to experience these serene spaces and what implications are hidden just beyond the surface. Thanks for opening my eyes. Editor: Anytime! Thinking critically and compassionately, especially within artistic expressions, changes everything about how we move through the world.