Temple 1956

Jim Forsberg made this black and white print called ‘Temple’, and I immediately imagine the labor and craft involved in its creation. I picture Forsberg, with his chisels and gouges, carefully carving away at a block of wood, leaving behind the raised surfaces that would eventually carry the ink. I imagine him inking the block, pressing paper onto its surface, and carefully peeling it away to reveal the image. What do you think he was thinking about? The shapes hover and balance, the lines curve and intersect, creating a play of positive and negative space. It makes me think of Fred Sandback’s use of lines to create sculptural forms or Sol LeWitt's modular structures, but there is something different here, something hand-wrought and felt. Each mark carries the weight of intention and invites us into a space of contemplation and quietude. I wonder what he was thinking about when he made this? We are all in conversation, echoing, and responding to each other, seeking to make sense of the world around us, to translate our experiences into something tangible and lasting.