Untitled 1961

Emerson Woelffer made this Untitled print; it's all about dark, geometric shapes dancing on an ochre field. I love imagining the process; the artist lays down that warm ground, then boldly carves out these forms. It makes me think about memory and symbols. What's hidden in these dark silhouettes? Maybe Woelffer was after something primal, reducing form to its essence like a cave painting. The black feels like the deepest night and those marks across the top feel almost like some ancient language—some code that we have to unlock to truly see. You can see the influence of the Abstract Expressionists but there's also something so personal, so unique, like he's whispering secrets onto the paper. It is as if Woelffer knew that painting is like a big conversation across time.