Armadillo 1968

This is Graham Sutherland’s print, ‘Armadillo.’ It’s hard to say exactly when it was made, but I can imagine Sutherland, hunched over a plate, coaxing these strange creatures into being with ink and maybe some spit bite. The ochre background feels like a desert landscape. The armadillo itself is so weird, like an armored helmet turned inside out, revealing soft, vulnerable young. I feel for Sutherland, trying to capture the textures of that shell, the way it both protects and imprisons. The composition feels so surreal, almost dreamlike, with the armadillo looming over smaller versions of itself in little boxes below. There's something really beautiful in the way the armadillo is so literal, but also so strange and symbolic. You can see Sutherland trying to work out an emotional response to the animal, transforming it through the act of drawing. This reminds me of the later work of Philip Guston where he tries to work out his own place in the world.