The Weaver 1935

"The Weaver" is an etching by Jeannette Maxfield Lewis, and its all about texture. The lines, like frantic little scratches, build up to make darks and lights, and the whole image shimmers with this nervous energy. It's like she’s building the scene stroke by stroke. Look at the figure of the weaver. The whole body is almost a solid block of black, achieved through a dense layering of etched lines. This contrasts with the surrounding area, especially the wall behind, where the lines are sparser, creating a sense of depth and light. I wonder what tool she used, maybe a needle, dragged across the plate with intention. Lewis's work reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker, both artists capturing the everyday with such honesty. But what makes art so great is how these different voices, across time, keep talking to each other, pushing and pulling at our ideas of what art can be. It's never just one story, is it?