Untitled from the portfolio With the Grain of the Wood (Au fil du bois) 1973

This is an untitled piece by Pierre Alechinsky, from the portfolio "With the Grain of the Wood," made using black ink on paper, that just gives so much in a limited palette. I love the physical work involved in the act of making a woodcut—the cutting, the carving, the inking, the pressing. I imagine Alechinsky going to the studio and thinking 'I will make forms appear out of chaos', making something new from the wood's natural grain. A figure appears from a field of gestural marks. What did the artist think as he was carving each piece? It makes me think of other artists playing with abstraction and figuration such as Asger Jorn and Karel Appel. These artists are in conversation, exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another's creativity. With this work Alechinsky embraces ambiguity, and creates a space for multiple interpretations. What do you see?