Five Hands and One Finger 1971

Marisol Escobar made this image, Five Hands and One Finger, using a printmaking process. Look at the network of dark marks that are layered and webbed into each other, forming a collection of hands. They are dark and intense with a whole lot of energy, they look like they are almost fighting each other for space. It feels so active, like an ongoing process of addition, subtraction, and revision. I can imagine Marisol hovering over the printing press, scraping and wiping away the ink, and then adding more, maybe trying to find the sweet spot of when to stop, or maybe not stopping at all. The one finger, so assertive, it leads you into the whole mess of hands, it’s a pretty funny gesture. This piece reminds me of some of her sculptural works, where she would assemble wooden boxes and carved figures, combining different elements into complex assemblages. All artists are in a constant conversation, their mark making can be read and re-read, it encourages new forms of seeing, thinking, and experiencing.