Moment by Moment 1967

Simo Pertii Hannula made this print, “Moment by Moment,” in 1964. I love how the approach to mark-making feels exploratory, like a process of uncovering rather than defining. Hannula's etching is full of frantic lines and dark, undefined forms. Look at how the composition is divided by this aggressive, spiky bush. It obscures as much as it reveals, almost like a shadow self. Then, beyond the bush, a horizon line that suggests an opening. I wonder about that space, it almost feels like a memory. These scratches and splatters remind me that art is just as much about questioning and searching as it is about making a definitive statement. Think of artists like Kiki Smith, who use a similar kind of rawness to make visible the emotional and psychological dimensions of experience. It's like art becomes a vessel for all of our ambiguous feelings, those moments that are hard to pin down but feel so real.