17181 (_Look, child …_) 1932

John Elsas made this drawing called 17181 (_Look, child …_) with paint and collage, probably around 1932. Look how Elsas puts things together! The figures are built from flat shapes, but there's so much texture. It's like he's saying, "Here's a piece, and here's another." Check out the ground they're walking on. Is it land? Water? It's got this wild mix of colors and textures, almost like a crazy landscape in a dream. See those tiny flowers? It’s a whole world in there. And then those simple, cut-out figures walking across – it’s kind of playful, kind of serious, right? Elsas’s work reminds me of Max Ernst, that knack for putting disparate elements together to create these really odd, compelling scenes. Ultimately, it’s about how we see, and how much we bring to the act of seeing.