Delousing c. 1939

David Burke created this print called Delousing, and it looks like he worked it over and over until it got to just the right kind of gnarly. I imagine Burke wanted to capture a feeling, the brute force of demolition, the vulnerability of those old buildings being torn down. Those are all feelings that echo in the pit of my stomach! I love the looming crane and wrecking ball; it's almost as if they were dancing. Look at the surface of the paper where Burke has made tiny marks, hatching and cross-hatching to build up the tones and textures. You can almost feel the grit and dust in the air! The whole image reminds me of Piranesi. Like Burke, Piranesi was obsessed with the weight of history and the drama of ruins. Artists like them both inspire me to look closer at the world around me and find beauty and meaning in unexpected places.