Untitled 2017

This untitled etching was made in 2017 by EtchingRoom1 and it's a real trip! I mean, look at those lines! They're not trying to be neat or anything; they're just scratching their way across the surface, making these two characters come alive. The face on the left is all smooth and kinda blank, while the one on the right is bursting with details, like that third eye thing going on. And the teeth, wow, they’re so present! The artist really leaned into the physicality of the medium. You can almost feel the pressure of the tool on the plate. What I like most is the UFO towards the bottom, as if to say, these are not your average portraits, folks! We’re talking about something out there, something unknown. The whole thing reminds me a bit of early Philip Guston, but with a punk rock edge. It’s like a conversation, a back-and-forth between different ways of seeing and being.