Untitled 2018

Curator: Let's discuss this “Untitled” ink and drawing on paper piece created by EtchingRoom1 in 2018. Immediately, I’m struck by the stark contrast and how it speaks to contemporary figuration within urban spaces. What’s your first impression? Editor: You know, it's kinda like a where’s waldo but with existential dread. All these tiny human figures scattered about, each seemingly trapped in their little black and white worlds, the urban solitude illustrated literally. It makes me think about what connects and divides us in a crowded city. Curator: Exactly, and this gets to the heart of some contemporary socio-political themes surrounding hyper-individualism within an over-populated context. The visual layering offers many narratives. We see glimpses of private lives against the backdrop of urban anonymity. The drawing employs both ink and the paper’s negative space effectively. Editor: I love how the fire escape kind of becomes the veins or maybe the skeleton connecting everything—but a skeleton only visible if, perhaps, the building burns down! Are we all just waiting for everything to crumble around us? Who put that thought into my head? Must be the gymnast falling head-first on the fifth floor, or the dude looking over the rooftop edge. Curator: These touches definitely draw on a wider artistic heritage. Think about early 20th-century modernism where artists like Mondrian sought to distill urban living down to pure form. But EtchingRoom1 fills that grid with very human stories that suggest disconnection rather than utopian unity. And of course, thinking about labor in terms of access. Where the labor class lived versus those with economic mobility. Editor: It’s like they’re caught between being fully formed characters and mere sketches. Is it their personal journey, their apartment a microcosm of bigger urban inequalities or their collective urban alienation, I guess all, actually! Curator: Yes. This duality seems quite intentional. This artwork speaks volumes about modern existence and invites questions around individual isolation within the urban experience. Editor: I guess, looking closer, that feeling is exactly what connects the figures and thus connects all of us who might relate and reflect while looking at this piece. Food for thought!