Sitzendes Maedchen 1949

This etching, Sitzendes Maedchen, was made in 1945 by Vivian Oviette. It's all in the lines, right? Kind of like a drawing, but with the subtle texture of a print. I’m really drawn to the network of lines that make up the figure of the sitting girl. Oviette’s using line to suggest form. See how the lines on her knee create a sense of roundness? It’s almost diagrammatic, but it's also kind of expressive, you know? When I look at this, I'm reminded of Picasso's drawings. It’s like she’s trying to capture the essence of a figure with the fewest possible marks. It’s a reduction, a distillation. But what I love about art is that it leaves room for you and me – the viewer – to fill in the gaps, to participate in the process of seeing.