Chinese Limodorum 1984

Jim Dine made this etching, Chinese Limodorum, with dark marks, and inky tones. It looks like he’s been digging around in the earth with his needle. I imagine Dine, in his studio, hunched over the plate, scratching and biting at the surface, trying to pull this image out of some hidden place. He’s coaxing the flower to emerge. It’s like a dance between control and letting go. Those dark marks give the flower a ghostly presence, like it’s caught between being there and not being there. The details are incredible; you can almost feel the texture of the petals and leaves. Each line seems deliberate, yet there's an overall feeling of spontaneity. It reminds me of other artists, like Mapplethorpe, who found beauty in the starkest of forms. It’s like they’re all in conversation, these artists, sharing ideas about what it means to see and feel the world. The etching is not just about representing a flower, it's about capturing a feeling, an essence. It’s about making something new.