Dancer in Motion 1952

Seong Moy made this print, Dancer in Motion, using various colours, perhaps in the 1950s. I really like the tension between figuration and abstraction here, which makes you wonder, what kind of dance is this exactly? Is it a swirling, ecstatic release, or something more like a struggle? I imagine Seong Moy working on the block, carving away, proofing, and re-carving, adjusting his composition in real time, in conversation with the emerging image, allowing chance and intuition to guide his hand. I see how he might layer colours to evoke a sense of movement and depth; the dark lines give a bit of an edge, like, I want to say, maybe the way we remember figures in a dream – fragmented, fleeting, and slightly mysterious. This print seems to have some dialogue with the work of Matisse, maybe Franz Kline as well, but what’s great is how Seong Moy still manages to bring his own distinctive voice and sensibility to the party.