The Mouse Metamorphosed into a Girl 1927 - 1930

Marc Chagall made this etching, The Mouse Metamorphosed into a Girl, without a specified date, but I can only imagine it emerging— shifting, taking shape—through much trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Chagall, imagining him coaxing this bizarre figure out of the plate. What was he thinking when he made it? Was he amused, disturbed, or both, by the image? Look at the etched lines; the paint is thin, but the image is dense. Notice the way the figure’s arms are raised, as though warding off something or reaching for something just out of grasp. Chagall's wider practice always explored themes of identity and transformation, often with a dreamlike quality. Consider how artists are constantly engaging in a visual conversation, responding to and building upon each other's ideas through time, sparking new creative possibilities. Painting is such an embodied form of expression, embracing ambiguity and the unknown, so that multiple interpretations can surface, even and especially when fixed meanings dissolve.