Indian Woman - Taos c. 1945

Barbara Lucile Maples created this print, "Indian Woman - Taos," using hatching to build tone and form. The composition draws us into a domestic scene. The textures created by closely drawn parallel lines give a tactile quality, particularly to the rounded form of the traditional oven and the folds of the woman’s clothing. This print uses stark contrasts to highlight the geometrical architecture against the rounded forms of the oven and the landscape. The artist engages with a semiotic system where domestic labor, cultural identity, and the stark beauty of the New Mexico landscape are interwoven. The woman is captured in a moment of labor, her form solid and grounded, in harmony with the traditional oven and surrounding structures. The print emphasizes the tension between the geometric and the organic, the cultural and the natural, reflecting a broader discourse on the interplay between humanity and the environment.