Untitled (Refinery Exterior) 1949

This is Lynd Kendall Ward's wood engraving, Untitled (Refinery Exterior). Just imagine Ward, knife in hand, carefully cutting away at the wood block to create this dramatic scene. The sky is looming, like it is in some of Joseph Stella’s paintings of factories – and that worker giving the OK sign! – perhaps he’s trying to assert some control over this industrial landscape. Looking at those pipes winding around, I can almost feel the weight and density of the materials. I know that feeling in my own painting practice – when an image starts to come together through a series of gestures, and decisions, each mark building on the last. Ward makes me think of so many artists who grappled with the modern world, like the precisionists. These artists are all in dialogue, responding to one another across time. It’s a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, each artist contributing their voice to this big, messy, beautiful exchange.