Romantik (The Romantic) 1987

Lubomír Dusek made this etching, Romantik, and honestly, with printmaking, it's all about the process, isn't it? The stark blacks and whites feel so immediate, like something caught in a flash of lightning. Look at the texture he’s built up, like layers of feeling scraped onto the plate. The way the dark ink bleeds into the paper gives it a real physicality. I am drawn to that jagged edge in the top right, it looks like he just attacked the plate with a drypoint needle, each scratch filled with meaning. It makes me think of Goya's darker prints. Both artists are diving into the deep end of the human experience, embracing the shadows. With work like this, it's not about answers, it’s about creating a space where we can ask the big questions.