Mosquito Fleet, Galveston 1933

Jessie Jo Eckford made this print, Mosquito Fleet, Galveston, using linocut, and it just feels like she dove right in. Look at the way the white lines carve out these boats bobbing in the water! Eckford really gets into the nitty-gritty of textures, from the smooth water to the rough, weathered wood of the docks. It's all about the hand; you can almost feel her pressing the tool into the linoleum, digging out these shapes. See how she varies the width and spacing of the lines to create depth and shadow? It’s kind of like she’s playing with positive and negative space, pushing and pulling our eye around the scene. It reminds me a bit of the German Expressionists, like Kirchner, who were also wrestling with this raw, immediate way of making images. Eckford leaves us with a slice of Galveston life, captured in bold strokes and simple shapes, which, to me, is more about feeling than seeing.