Girl with Mask 1950

Benton Spruance made this lithograph, Girl with Mask, using black ink. The cool thing about printmaking is the way the artist has to think backwards, almost like a mirror image of painting. Look closely and you can see how the velvety blacks create an image of both intimacy and theatricality. The texture of the lithographic stone gives the image a soft, almost dreamlike quality. The girl's skin seems to glow against the stark contrast of the mask she holds. It’s so interesting how the mask seems to mimic and mock the girl's own face. Like, who are we really? It’s a bit like the German Expressionist prints of Käthe Kollwitz, but there is also something here of Otto Dix's grotesque visions. I think it captures that feeling of uncertainty about identity. It’s like art is just one big conversation across time.