Head (Tête) 1951

Pierre Alechinsky made this print, Head, using etching, a process of cutting lines into a metal plate with acid. The whole thing has a kind of nervous energy to it, a web of criss-cross lines building up this kind of oval face. Looking closely at this plate, you can see how the density of lines creates dark and light areas, giving the face shape. It’s all about the process and the physicality of working the metal – you can almost feel Alechinsky digging into the plate, making this scratchy, textured surface. The lines surrounding the head are like vibrating energy, a world of thoughts and emotions swirling around it. You know, this print reminds me a bit of Picasso’s Cubist portraits, where he breaks down the face into geometric shapes. But Alechinsky’s is more intuitive, more like a stream-of-consciousness drawing. Both artists leave us with an image that's open to interpretation, a face that's both familiar and strange.