Untitled (Man, dog's head and rose) 1934 - 1935

This etching, "Untitled (Man, dog's head and rose)," was made by John Ferren, though we don’t know exactly when. The image is all about the lines incised into a metal plate, and the way these hold ink to make the final impression. Ferren would have used sharp tools to physically cut the metal, or bathed the plate in acid, protecting certain areas with a resist to create the image. This could have been repeated for many stages to create tone and depth through layers of mark-making. The images that Ferren etches include a man, a dog’s head, and a rose, but their juxtaposition feels a bit like automatic drawing, the chance encounters that result from unconscious associations. The effect is only heightened by the industrial process used to make the print. The mechanical precision of the etching clashes wonderfully with the looseness of the composition. What might seem like a straightforward image becomes complex when we consider these competing values. Ferren shows us that an artwork can be both freely imaginative, and the result of exacting labor.