Unfriendly Dancer 1946

Hans Orlowski’s "Unfriendly Dancer" comes alive through stark black lines carved into a pale surface, each cut a deliberate act of mark-making, almost violent, as the image emerges. I can imagine Orlowski wrestling with the block, pushing and pulling the tool to reveal this winged figure, perhaps a fallen angel, or a spirit of the night. The figure seems trapped between ecstasy and despair. The cross-hatching gives such a raw, tactile quality, as if Orlowski is thinking through his hands, making visible the weight of emotion. You see the way the lines cluster to create shadows, the areas of light left untouched, and the figure seems to struggle against the dark, swirling energy around them. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be pretty, sometimes it can be a primal scream etched into a block, echoing through time.