Dju-dju figures West Africa 1932

Reijer Stolk made this intaglio print titled ‘Dju-dju figures West Africa’ sometime before 1945. I love the term Dju-dju, it reminds me of children playing, the musicality of the word itself and the way it almost doesn’t seem to mean anything; a kind of nonsense word. The matrix of etched lines describes a collection of figures, totems, and symbols that seem to be floating across the picture plane. The texture of the ground is rough, a kind of random noise, which adds to the primitive and magical feel of the piece. I’m really drawn to the rendering of the two standing figures in the upper center of the image. There is a lot of information in the lightly rendered marks, and although they are simple in form, these figures carry real presence and dignity. There’s something about the combination of this image and the work of someone like Fred Tomaselli, who also explores the combination of information, image making and magic. Both artists embrace ambiguity, encouraging viewers to find their own meanings within the work.