District Six 1979

This image is a woodcut by Gregoire Boonzaier. Look at how the textures and the dark, saturated colors come together to depict an urban scene with such expression! Imagine Boonzaier carving away at the woodblock, figuring out how to translate the world into sharp, graphic forms. What was he thinking as he made this? What must it have been like for him to wander through District Six, taking in all its sights and sounds and trying to capture it, knowing what was to come? Notice how the rough, almost jagged lines create a feeling of intensity and movement, while the color adds a layer of emotional depth. That sky especially—it looks about ready to burst open with feeling. We see the world through other people's eyes, right? Artists are always talking to each other across time, trading secrets and inspiring new ways of seeing.