Aphrodite Returns to the Sea Possibly 1970

Ann Brunskill made this print, Aphrodite Returns to the Sea, sometime between 1950 and 1990. The whole thing is swirly and blue, etched lines like waves, or seaweed, or maybe the goddess herself dissolving back into the ocean. Brunskill’s process is so evident here, the way she coaxes the image out of the metal plate, a testament to the physicality of art-making. Look at the lower part of the image, there are some repeated marks that resemble the letter 'u'. These could be shells or scales. I love how the goddess's body is both present and absent, her outline clear but her form dissolving into the watery depths. There is a push and pull between representation and abstraction which reminds me of Odilon Redon, particularly in the dreamlike quality of his lithographs. This print is a conversation, an echo of art history, constantly reshaping itself in the present.