The Dead Mother and Her Child 1999

Edvard Munch made this etching, 'The Dead Mother and Her Child,' with a raw, scratchy line that feels like a scream on paper. It's all about that feeling, isn't it? Look at how the lines build up the texture of the bedclothes, a frantic energy that contrasts with the still, silent form of the mother. The child’s face, those wide eyes and hands pressed to her ears, is like a graphic symbol of trauma. It's there in the very process, in the artist's hand digging into the plate, making marks that can't be unmade. Munch’s work always reminds me of Paula Rego, both artists unflinching in their depiction of intense emotional states. Art, at its best, doesn't give us easy answers, it invites us to sit with the questions.