Maraboe 1896 - 1931

This is 'Maraboe' a handmade etching by Emilius Dehé. I imagine Dehé hunched over his plate, coaxing the image out of the metal bit by bit, line by line. There's a real intensity here, a darkness. You know, printmaking is such a cool medium, so immediate in some ways, but also it requires a deep level of planning and foresight. Each mark has to count. I wonder what Dehé was thinking about when he made this? The bird looks so melancholy, droopy somehow. The body is suggested with all these etched lines in different directions, but the legs are just these spindly, wiry things. I love how printmakers and painters talk to each other across time, inspiring each other with new ways of seeing and feeling. It's like a big, ongoing conversation, isn't it? A conversation that embraces uncertainty and ambiguity.