The Searcher 1928

This is "The Searcher" by George Nelson, made with engraving. Look at the stark contrast! I wonder what Nelson was thinking as he incised those lines, building up the darkness, scraping away the light. It feels like a real struggle, a kind of existential quest etched into the very surface of the plate. The figure pushes on this kind of paper wave, caught between a dark sky and a barren land. Are they shaping the world, or is the world shaping them? Are they uncovering something? The figure could be seen to be trapped by the very thing they are searching for. You can really feel the labor in the details. The printmaking process itself becomes a metaphor for the search, that feeling of pushing against resistance to discover something new. Nelson is in conversation with artists throughout time. Thinking through making; that's where the magic happens.