Carrion Flower 1984

This is Jim Dine’s “Carrion Flower”, an etching. You know, the amazing thing about etchings is how the artist coaxes depth and texture from a flat surface. Here, the network of lines, the scratchy marks, they’re not just describing the flower, but also creating a kind of atmospheric space. It's like Dine is building the image from the ground up, line by line. Check out the flower in the foreground. See how the petals are built with dense clusters of marks, almost like he’s sculpting with ink. The way he’s used the etching needle reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly, though Dine is drawing flowers, not scrawling text. Both artists make marks that feel spontaneous, but are also carefully considered. And that's what art is, right? A conversation across time, a playful exploration of ideas. There are no fixed meanings, just endless possibilities.