Eakins c. 1962

Leonard Baskin made this print called 'Eakins', using stark black ink on a white ground. I wonder about the kind of wood Baskin used. You can almost feel the grain resisting the blade, can’t you? See how the artist allows the marks to build up and define the face, a process of revelation and concealment? The heavy blacks weighing down on the figure. It’s like he is digging into the surface to find the subject, peeling away the layers. I’m thinking about other artists like Käthe Kollwitz, who also used the woodcut technique to express psychological depth. This method speaks to me because it mirrors the way we construct our identities, through struggle, pressure, and the acceptance of imperfections. It's a kind of existential portrait, where the act of creation is as much about the self as it is about the subject. And isn't that always the case?