Exlibris of Ira Ponomareva 1984

Oleksandr Aksinin made this small etching, "Exlibris of Ira Ponomareva," using fine lines and a stark black-and-white palette. It’s like a dream, isn't it? I imagine Aksinin hunched over the plate, his hand moving with incredible precision. See those tiny, deliberate marks? Each one carefully placed to build up tone and texture. The figure seems to be weeping, these stylized teardrops falling into a bowl. Is it grief, or some kind of strange alchemy? Aksinin's from Lviv, and I wonder if he knew other printmakers there? This reminds me of Goya's darker works, that same sense of unease and the fantastic. But Aksinin brings his own sensibility, a kind of quiet, surreal humor. It makes you think about how art is a form of conversation and how artists riff off each other across time.