Ancestors 1953

Dorothy Dehner made this small print, Ancestors, in 1953 using an old-school technique. Just imagine her, carving into a block, scraping away at the surface to reveal these figures emerging from the blackness. You can feel the artist’s hand in the deliberate, rhythmic cuts, each one defining the contours of these ancestral figures. I wonder what Dehner was thinking about when she made this? About her own family? About the past? Each figure seems to have its own distinct character, yet they’re all linked. Maybe she was also looking at work by other artists? It looks a little bit like early Picasso or tribal art, like she’s conjuring up a sense of shared human history. Painters are always looking at each other's work, talking to one another across time and space. I love the way that art opens up these conversations, these possibilities for connection and understanding.