Happy New Year, 1969 (Bonne Annee, 1969) 1968

Albert Edgar Yersin made this print, Happy New Year, in 1969, and it's like a little visual puzzle to unravel, isn't it? The first thing I notice is how Yersin lets us see his working process, it's all there on the surface! The textures are alive with the energy of mark-making, almost like a seismograph recording the tremors of his hand. Look closely and you'll see the varied densities of the etched lines which build areas of dark and light. It’s a world of scratches and cross-hatching, all working together to create these shadowy forms. Take the section where the face is suggested; this is rendered with such an economy of line, yet it is so expressive. Yersin gives us just enough to trigger our own pattern-making tendencies, allowing us to complete the image. It's like he’s saying, "Here's a suggestion, now you take it from here." This makes me think of Cy Twombly who also used playful lines to create imaginary worlds on paper, so maybe Yersin was looking at Twombly. Ultimately, art is a conversation across time, and there’s no final word, just an ongoing exchange of ideas.