Centsprent 1980

Odette Reydon made this print, 'Centsprent', using a woodcut technique. The images are made up of strong black lines with minimal color to create a graphic visual language. It feels immediate, urgent almost, as if the images have been pulled directly from the artist's stream of consciousness. Each small vignette is a world of its own, a physical manifestation of inner thoughts and states. The textures are raw and direct, you can feel the artist grappling with the material, a dialogue between intention and chance. Note the fourth image in the top row; the single blue splash of color, the rest of the block is black and white. It’s so simple, yet it draws you in. The artist is showing us, 'Hey look, I’m making this!' Reydon reminds me of other artists interested in the process of mark making like Phillip Guston or Nicole Eisenman. The piece has a quality of embracing imperfection, of acknowledging that art isn't about perfection, but about conversation, about the ongoing exchange of ideas and experiences. There’s something appealing about art that doesn't take itself too seriously, that embraces the messiness of life.