Lying down 2018

Thiago Boecan made this small linocut, simply titled "Lying Down," using a reductive method, carving away at a block to reveal the image. It's a cool process, right? You have to think in reverse. Look at the way the white lines define the body against the blocky crimson ground, like a map of someone's contours, or a memory of touch. It reminds me of Matisse's cut-outs, or maybe even some of those early woodcuts by Edvard Munch, but with a kind of raw, personal feel to it. The lines are uneven, a little wobbly, not trying to be perfect, which is what gives it its charm. Especially those legs, all bent and striped, how the angle of them feels both awkward and intimate at the same time. I love that it's not about perfection but about feeling. It's like Boecan is saying, hey, this is what it feels like to be in a body, messy and real.