Christoph Columbus - Ein Neuer Grosser Ocean-Vogel 1921

Johannes Molzahn made this print, Christoph Columbus - Ein Neuer Grosser Ocean-Vogel, with ink on paper, and right away I’m thinking about how process-led printmaking is. Just look at the way that the image is built up from tiny marks. They contrast so beautifully with the shapes they describe. You can almost feel the artist pushing the tool through the material, carefully choosing where to leave a mark and where to remove it. It's so physical. The texture here is incredible, the black ink sitting slightly raised on the page. It feels like you could reach out and trace the lines with your fingers, following the journey of the artist's hand. It reminds me of the work of someone like Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, where the act of making the artwork is as important as the final image. For me, art is about this conversation across time, each artist building on what came before, leaving their mark, and then passing the baton.