China Ducks c. 1935

Mina Pulsifer made this print, called 'China Ducks', using blocks and ink. Just imagine the work that's gone into making this image! Pulsifer would have spent hours carving into blocks to create the matrix for printing. You can sense her careful attention to line and her love of the natural world in the patterning of feathers, in the bold colors of the vegetation, and the watery, webbed background. There's something so wonderful about the way she has made solid forms with what are actually just flat planes of color. It’s a very particular vision, that feels both modern and sort of timeless. This print talks to other forms of decorative image-making that were popular at the time, but it also has its own idiosyncratic spin. She brings a kind of geometric abstraction together with more naturalistic forms, a synthesis that feels very much of its moment. It all feels somehow balanced between representation and abstraction, between graphic design and pure expression.