Dancer in Motion 1952

Seong Moy’s print, Dancer in Motion, is made with woodcut blocks. Just imagine the artist carving away at that surface! I love that artmaking is such a process. It’s a physical thing. I get a real sense of that in this work. It’s an arrangement of tones and shades, and the lines carve up the surface with graphic vigor. The image is composed of many individual lines, a variety of colours from yellow to grey, all combining to create the impression of movement. Look at the area in the top right with the yellow and black lines, how the artist has created the impression of a head in motion. You can really feel the dancer, the abstract idea of movement and energy, rather than just a single moment. It reminds me of those futurist paintings, like Boccioni, where they tried to capture the dynamism of modern life. Moy really gets that sense of change, and how art can embrace ambiguity.