Verwandlung 1920

Johannes Molzahn made this etching, Verwandlung, with a dense assembly of mechanical and abstract shapes, all jittering on the plate together. I wonder what it was like for Molzahn to build up these tiny linear marks, a whole world constructed through trial, error, and a deep sense of play. I’m trying to imagine what Molzahn was thinking, hunched over his plate, layering these marks, this vocabulary of lines and tones. The image is full of circles, dots, rectangles, and zigzags, but what do they mean? Perhaps he was interested in a kind of visual transformation, allowing the forms to shift and change from one state to another. It’s like he’s created a whole family of shapes, each with its own little quirks and personalities. This piece really reminds me of Paul Klee’s drawings—those playful, imaginative forms seem to float in a similar world of abstraction. And just as Klee has inspired me, I’m sure Molzahn was part of an ongoing conversation too, absorbing ideas and adding his own unique voice to the mix. For me, painting is this ongoing exchange, where we learn from each other and keep the conversation flowing.