Anonymous was a Woman I 1977

Miriam Schapiro made this print, Anonymous was a Woman I, using soft ground etching and aquatint. I can imagine her hunched over the plate, carefully building up the doily pattern with layer upon layer of marks. It’s like she’s building something solid from these delicate shapes. I feel like I’m seeing time captured in these printed gestures, almost meditative. The title also makes me think about women’s work, historically uncredited, like the making of a quilt or a crocheted doily. The image rises up, in a deep red, from the field of the paper – a single color creating so much texture and depth. Schapiro, like many of us, plays with materials that have traditionally been associated with women's crafts, giving them new life.