Untitled [figure] 1968

This untitled etching was made by Anton Heyboer, though when, exactly, is a mystery. Look closely, and you can almost feel him hunched over the plate, working the acid with deliberate scratches to construct a lone figure. It's ghostly, isn't it? I imagine Heyboer felt a connection to this figure, maybe even saw himself in its simplified form. The lines slicing through the oval feel like the constricting structures of society, or perhaps the boundaries of the self. I keep thinking about the act of mark-making here: each stroke loaded with intention, a way of charting the artist’s inner world, and his vision. It's reminiscent of other outsider artists, like Adolf Wölfli, who used art as a way to map their internal landscapes. Ultimately, this print is a conversation, a continuation of a dialogue among artists across time, each one building on the other’s visual language. Heyboer offers a raw, honest glimpse into his own human experience, inviting us to find our own meaning in its delicate lines and ambiguous forms.