Bird Machine I 1952 - 1953

Dorothy Dehner created ‘Bird Machine I’ in 1952 using etching. You can see the mark-making, the series of lines which define the composition. It’s all about shifting and emerging through trial and error. When I look at this, I imagine Dehner in her studio, wrestling with the plate, thinking about birds, machines, geometry, and how it all comes together. I can feel her pushing and pulling, creating this strange, angular bird. The texture is smooth, the lines are precise, and the whole thing feels very deliberate. There's an incredible sense of control here. I wonder if she was thinking about the Cubists and their fractured forms when she made it, maybe even Picasso. But in the end, it is the feeling of flight that pulls me in. It's as if the bird is breaking apart even as it soars, a beautiful, chaotic dance. The artist puts herself in the lineage of abstraction, creating something completely new. It reminds me that artists are always in conversation, inspiring each other across time. It’s a dance of ambiguity, where multiple interpretations are not just possible but welcomed.