Insomnia c. 1960

Caroline Wogan Durieux made this print called "Insomnia," using lithography. The dark, velvety texture really gets to me, like the sleepless nights I’ve had myself. Those soft, smudgy stars contrast with the sharp crosses below, creating this uneasy calm. The skeleton lounging there is so vulnerable, almost as if they’ve given up fighting it. I love the way Durieux handles the lithographic stone, pressing it to yield these delicate textures, these layers of light and dark. There’s something so real about the graveyard stretching out to the horizon. It's not like a photograph can capture. It feels like a conversation about life, death, and what keeps us up at night. This reminds me of Goya’s darker prints, and how he mixed the personal with the political. It’s the kind of art that asks more questions than it answers, and that’s why it stays with you.