Goldenrod 

Ruth Cyril created "Goldenrod," a print of delicate ochre hues, sometime before her death in 1988. The composition is dominated by vertically oriented goldenrod plants, their forms simplified yet recognizable against a muted background. The texture, achieved through the printmaking process, adds a tactile dimension to the image. Cyril’s approach to representation here seems to challenge the traditional notions of depth and perspective. There’s a flattening of space, where the foreground and background merge. This challenges our perception and invites us to reconsider our relationship to the natural world, turning away from mimesis and instead focusing on what a plant is. The choice of a single color and limited tonal range serves to highlight the linear qualities of the plants. It reduces the visual information, encouraging the viewer to engage with the underlying structure of the subject matter. This print becomes a reflection on the act of seeing itself.