Abstracte compositie 1919

Erich Wichmann made this abstract composition in 1919. It's a dance of darks and lights, achieved through what I imagine was a painstaking process of carving away at a block. I can almost feel the artist's hand as they chiseled out these shapes, each cut a decision, a little drama playing out on the surface. What I am looking at, exactly? Is it floral, spectral? It's like the ghost of a flower, maybe, rendered in stark relief. Look at the textures, the way the light catches on those carved edges. You get a sense of the material itself—the grain of the wood, the resistance of the knife. For me, printmaking is a lot like painting. It's about embracing the unexpected, the little imperfections that give the work its character. Like the way artists build on each other's ideas, the way we’re all in conversation, even across time.