Untitled (Backyards) c. 1946

Mary L. Finley Fry made this fantastic black and white print, Untitled (Backyards), at some point in her career. There’s an incredible arrangement of shapes here, with different layers and tones creating a real sense of depth. She's built a world of contrasts, somewhere between abstraction and reality. I see the way she’s made the marks as a real process. It's like she's building something bit by bit, and the image emerges as she goes along. I'm drawn to how she captures light and shadow through these stark shapes. The criss-crossing lines, the areas of deep black, and the subtle gradations of tone all come together to suggest light filtering through a cluttered space. Those coiled lines at the bottom right are really interesting. They contrast with the angular forms, and they seem to bring a playful, almost surreal quality to the image. It reminds me a little of Piranesi and his etchings. Fry creates a space that feels both familiar and dreamlike. It feels like a memory, a fragment of a place, open to interpretation.