Bond Drive 1944

Lynd Kendall Ward made "Bond Drive" using engraving techniques, a stark image rendered in monochrome. The act of carving the image into the block, scraping away at the surface to reveal form, feels painstaking, methodical. You can sense the artist's hand at work, patiently building up the image bit by bit. The surface is smooth, but I imagine the artist's concentration as they etched away at the block, guided by a vision of the final print. The light is so dramatic – it feels like the image is emerging from the darkness. Ward's approach reminds me of other printmakers I admire, like Käthe Kollwitz. There is something about the graphic quality of printmaking, the way it strips down an image to its essential elements, that feels very direct and powerful. I love the idea of artists being in conversation across time, each building on the ideas and techniques of those who came before. It’s this beautiful, ongoing exchange.