Maelstrom 1943

Francis Sumner Merritt made this print, 'Maelstrom', in 1943. It's all about process, I think, the way those marks build and swirl. I love how Merritt’s marks on the stone pull us into the center of the vortex, a dark void where it feels like everything is being churned and transformed. Look at how the figures are caught in this cosmic blender, their bodies contorted, limbs flailing. The texture is rough and raw, like the world is being torn apart and put back together at the same time. The etching has this urgency, like the artist couldn't wait to get it all down, a direct translation of feeling. It reminds me a little of Goya's dark visions, that sense of the world turned upside down and inside out, but with Merritt’s own unique spin. It’s a reminder that art doesn't need to be neat and tidy to be powerful.