Forest 1973

This is Marisol Escobar’s print of a forest, made with lithography on paper. The deep blacks are offset by the stark white of the page to construct an entire world. I’m taken by the texture in this piece, the way it feels as though the leaves themselves were pressed into the surface. It makes me think about artmaking as a really physical process, especially when you’re dealing with prints, and the way the artist might get their hands dirty in the process. Each leaf is different, with some being light and airy and others densely dark, creating depth and dimension. Look at how the veins of the leaves are rendered so delicately, contrasting with the bold swathes of black ink surrounding them. This reminds me of the way Agnes Martin worked, with a similarly careful touch, even though their aesthetics are miles apart. It’s all about how the artist leaves a trace, inviting us to see and feel the world in new ways. The beauty of art is that it isn’t definitive.