Untitled 1919

This black and white print was made by Kurt Schwitters. It’s hard to say exactly when, but you can almost feel the scraping, the inking, and the pressing. I love to imagine how an artwork has come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. Poor Kurt! What might he have been thinking when he made it? I sympathize. The way the planes tilt and jostle against one another reminds me of my own struggles in painting. The lines cut through the surface—or is it that the surface emerges from the lines? Do you see how the black and white shapes create a push and pull? It’s like he’s in conversation with other artists, an exchange of ideas across time. This form of embodied expression embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations. It’s not fixed; it's alive!