Saint Sulpice, Paris: La Petite Tour 1901

Donald Shaw MacLaughlan made this etching, "Saint Sulpice, Paris: La Petite Tour," using dark lines on a pale ground. The process of etching can be alchemical; I often think about those transformative moments in my own work! Look at the crowd of people gathering in front of the church. See how they appear to be almost scratched into the scene with swift, decisive lines? The architecture looms, built up from tiny marks, a testament to the cumulative power of simple actions. I love how the sky, a blank space, hints at something vast and unknowable above. MacLaughlan's work reminds me a little bit of Piranesi. Both explore architectural spaces through a graphic language of line and tone, though Piranesi dials up the drama with grandiose scale and theatrical lighting. This piece, though, is so interesting because it embraces subtlety. Art isn't about definitive answers, is it? It's about opening up space for questions and letting ambiguity be.