Untitled (Man Digging in Cellar or Mine) 1937

Selma Freeman created this untitled drawing of a man digging in 1937. It's made from graphite on paper. What strikes me is the density of marks. Freeman doesn’t shy away from a layered approach. You can see it in the way she builds up the shadows, creating a real sense of depth. The man's arm is rendered with so much care, and the way the light catches on his back is compelling. I think about the physical act of mark making, the pressure of the graphite on paper, the repetitive strokes, almost like the digging itself. It gives the image a sense of movement and energy. And that shovel, jutting into the unknown—it reminds me of Courbet, maybe, in its attention to the labor of the everyday. But it's also uniquely Freeman’s, in the way she embraces process and lets the marks speak for themselves. It’s more about the journey than a fixed destination.