Tiger Trainer 1947

James Flora’s “Tiger Trainer” is a dance in black and white, a world conjured through wood engraving. I love how he fearlessly committed to each cut, each line, each shape, building the image in a way that feels both deliberate and wild. Imagine Flora carving into that block of wood, maybe thinking about the circus, or the way power and absurdity can intertwine. Look at the trainer's face: is it a mask, a distortion, or a glimpse into the manic energy required to tame a tiger? And that tiger! It’s more like a cool cat, sauntering along, almost amused by the whole spectacle. I see echoes of artists like Picasso, who also knew how to bend reality into something sharp and new. There's a conversation happening here across time, where artists inspire each other to keep pushing, keep questioning, and keep creating these wonderfully strange worlds.