Readiness 1946

This is Hans Orlowski’s ‘Readiness’, a woodcut print. Look at the way the artist has used line to carve out the face! The man’s expression is weary, wise, but with an undeniable strength, like a character in a Brecht play. He is resting on a block or a printing plate, maybe his own? It has been decorated with a carved spiral – life unfolding. There’s a wall of bricks behind him, a symbol of labor, of construction, but also maybe of division? Orlowski is showing us the weight of the world, the burden of history, and the quiet defiance of the human spirit. I'm picturing Orlowski, in his studio, the smell of ink, the physical act of carving into the wood. Each cut is a decision, a mark of intention, creating light and shadow. The labor of his cuts, the labor of his subject, merge. What is he ready for? I wonder. What are we?