Nocturne, Wynyard Square 1932

Dorrit Black made this linocut, Nocturne, Wynyard Square, using just black ink on paper to depict a night scene in Sydney. I find the bold contrast between light and shadow totally captivating; it's all about shapes and how they play together. You can almost feel the coolness of the night air, see the sharp edges of the buildings, and that one diagonal line suggesting movement. The black areas aren’t just background, they push forward, becoming as important as the shapes they define. This makes me think of how we build up a painting, not just by adding, but by carving out space and seeing what emerges from the process. Thinking about the scene as a whole, I can't help but think of early modernist printmakers like those associated with the German Expressionist group Die Brücke, who weren't afraid to use graphic techniques to amplify an emotional message. It’s about embracing the raw and the unfinished, finding beauty in the unexpected marks that come from process.