Indecision 1952 - 1955

This is Edmond Casarella’s "Indecision," a print from sometime in the mid-twentieth century. Look at the way the image is built up from these marks and shapes, like a bunch of thoughts all happening at once. That to me is the essence of artmaking, a process of thinking through doing. The colors here are muted – mostly blacks, grays, and a deep teal that almost reads as another kind of black. I love how Casarella uses these colors to create a sense of depth and texture. The surface feels almost rough, like you could reach out and touch it. I am drawn to the circle and triangle shapes, bisected by thin perpendicular lines. It feels a bit like an eye chart, or perhaps the cockpit of a plane. Do you get the sense that the artist is unsure, as the title suggests? Casarella's work reminds me a bit of some of the abstract expressionists, like Robert Motherwell, who were also interested in exploring the subconscious through abstract forms. The real beauty of a piece like this is that it allows for so many different readings. What do you see when you look at it?