Wake 1968

Stanley William Hayter made this print called ‘Wake’ using engraving and etching techniques. Look at the way Hayter has built up the image through layers of marks, those wavey oranges and blues. You can almost feel the process, the physical act of cutting into the plate. The texture here is all visual, an illusion created by the density and direction of the lines. There's a real energy to it. Notice how the orange lines curve across the surface, like contours on a map, creating a sense of depth. Then, those blue lines squiggle on top, disrupting the order, adding a layer of chaos. It reminds me of how Agnes Martin would think about structure, and then find ways to disrupt it. Hayter was part of a whole movement experimenting with abstraction. He reminds us that art isn't just about representing the world, but about creating new ways of seeing and feeling. It's about embracing the unexpected, the unfinished, the unresolved.