L'Etoile de L'Occident 1955

Ralston Crawford made this print, "L'Etoile de L'Occident," using serigraphy, or silkscreen, layering shapes and lines into something that feels both abstract and architectural. I love how he's working with geometric forms and a limited palette, it's like he's building up a composition piece by piece. The ochre and grays give it this industrial feel, while the bold black outlines really define the shapes. Take a look at how the black line wraps around the white shape on the right, and then how it connects back into the black triangle in the foreground; this is an image built from a balance of solids and voids, positive and negative shapes pushing against each other, creating a kind of visual tension. Crawford’s interest in industrial subjects reminds me of Charles Sheeler, but Crawford takes it a step further into pure abstraction. Ultimately, it’s this tension between representation and abstraction that keeps me looking, thinking, and feeling. There's always more than one way to see things.