Complaints 1914

Helen Hyde made this print, Complaints, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, with ink on paper. The muted palette and the visible woodgrain give it a dreamlike quality. It really emphasizes artmaking as a layering process, and how one mark responds to the mark before. The rough paper adds texture, contrasting with the flat planes of colour. The forms are simplified, almost cartoonish, but the perspective is wonky and the colour palette is muted. The orange of the child's skin is echoed in the geese's feet and the hanging gourds, which creates a gentle harmony. Look closely at the geese: their feathers are suggested with these scratchy, energetic lines. It's almost like Hyde is inviting us to feel the goose's squawks, or the kid's complaints. Hyde's woodblock prints were influenced by Japanese techniques, but she brought her own Western perspective and sense of humour. You can see similar methods used by artists like Mary Cassatt, who was also working with printmaking at this time, exploring domestic scenes and the relationships between women and children. What I love about art is this ongoing conversation, this back-and-forth, across time and cultures. There's no one "right" way to interpret a piece, but maybe a thousand.