Twins 1967

Ossip Zadkine made this print, Twins, with an etcher and ink, and it's all about the power of lines to conjure form. The process feels very present – like the image came into being through a build-up of marks, a kind of patient search. Look at how Zadkine uses hatching and cross-hatching to suggest volume and depth. There are dense thickets of ink that create weight. Then, see how some lines are confident and definite, others a bit more tentative, like the artist was feeling his way. I love the jagged, lightning-like lines zig-zagging down the center. They create a sense of tension, of something about to crack open. The twins are these monumental, almost architectural figures, and yet, there's also a fragility to them. It makes me think of Picasso and Braque and their Cubist explorations, but with a more human touch, a little less rigid. Zadkine reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, an echo chamber of ideas and feelings that we all get to participate in. It’s about embracing the questions, not nailing down the answers.