Ruhende Zigeuner 1918

This black and white woodcut by Maria Uhden shows a family resting on their travels. Can you imagine Uhden carving into the wood, carefully choosing which areas to cut away to create these bold shapes? The scene is alive with graphic marks: the sharp lines of the horse's mane, the soft curve of the moon, the twinkling stars in the night sky. I wonder what it was like for her, a young woman in the early 20th century, grappling with the weight and the wonder of tradition, carving out her own voice. The sleeping mother is a tender sight. You can see echoes of German Expressionism, maybe even a nod to earlier printmakers. It’s like she's in conversation with other artists, isn't she? Reaching across time, each of them searching, questioning, and telling stories through images. In painting and printmaking there is always more than one way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world.