Sisters 1948

Jefferson Eugene Grigsby Jr. made this print titled, Sisters. The stark black and white is so arresting. I'm imagining Grigsby, maybe in the dark, carefully carving away at this block of wood, each cut a decisive move, a building up of tone and texture. I love the way the image is constructed from contrasts, dense and shadowy in some areas, then opening to the white of the paper in these gestural marks that suggest light and atmosphere. I wonder about the process of carving, the concentration, the physical engagement. It is an intimate act of bringing forth an image, a kind of alchemy. I'm thinking about the way the artist uses the wood grain to animate the surface. You can see it working to describe the women's features, their expressions, and the way they are close to each other. It is a moving composition. Like all art, this piece exists in conversation, echoing past and current dialogues. It reminds me of Elizabeth Catlett, and the graphic power of German Expressionist woodcuts. Painting allows for this kind of layered thinking. It is never just one thing, but many things, a space for different ways of seeing and experiencing.