Back-to-Back 1973

Christina Ramberg made this fascinating, undated etching called Back-to-Back using the printmaking process to bring us into her world of pattern and form. The controlled lines and repetitive marks feel like a meditative act, a kind of slow looking and building of an image. Ramberg’s visual language really piques my interest. The texture in the image is created by these methodical lines and the light and shadow is all built from how close or far apart these lines are. Look at the way the ‘fabric’ seems to wrap and constrict the torsos, playing with themes of constraint and the female form. The patterns create an optical buzz, especially in areas where the lines shift direction. The details in the hair curls, rendered with tight, swirling lines, contrast with the angularity of the rest of the piece. Ramberg’s work reminds me a bit of some of the early abstract pattern paintings of Hilma af Klint. Both artists seem interested in the body, and the ways it can be restricted or supported by clothing. Both ask us to find our own meanings in the images they have made.