Porpoise 

Curator: Good morning. We're here today looking at Glen Stirling's print titled "Porpoise." It's a linocut, relying on strong contrasts of black and white. What's your initial response to it? Editor: The stark black and white creates an immediate sense of drama, almost like a woodblock print. The curves are so stylized and rhythmic – the waves and the bodies of the porpoises feel as if they mirror one another, pulling my eyes across the entire picture plane. Curator: Absolutely, the visual rhythm is mesmerizing. I feel a definite nod to Ukiyo-e, that Japanese woodblock aesthetic. It really is all about the line here. Editor: Precisely. Notice how Stirling uses the negative space of the white lines to define the shapes of the porpoises and the waves? Each line dictates a volume of water; each absence delineates the graceful contours of the porpoises, encapsulating speed and fluidity despite being still. Curator: Right. And I'm just really tickled by how cheerfully chubby they look, these porpoises are practically caricatures! Perhaps I'm projecting a bit of myself here, but there is definitely a light-hearted joviality to their form that charms me! The artist manages to imbue each animal with character while sacrificing photographic realism. They are diving and swimming right out of the print and into the waters of my own mind. Editor: It’s fascinating how much personality comes through the stylized form. Though Stirling has chosen to portray these figures with a reductive economy of visual means, they lose none of their lively presence. What's equally engaging is the almost cartoonish depiction of the sky; that lone, swirling cumulus is imbued with a quiet sense of motion. Curator: I completely concur. It's as though nature, represented in such simple forms, suddenly attains a heightened emotive potential. You sense both calmness and movement, stillness and flow... all harmonizing. It truly encapsulates nature. This piece isn’t just representational, it's also quite evocative. Editor: Ultimately, “Porpoise” exemplifies the profound expressiveness of formal reduction. What an excellent distillation of motion and feeling from only a few precisely cut lines. Curator: Agreed. There's a vitality here that far surpasses what one might expect from a monochromatic print, thanks to its compositional balance, its thematic symbolism, and its raw emotional impact.