Reforestation (center panel) 1935

Helen West Heller made this lino cut, called Reforestation, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. I see a world built from positive and negative shapes. What a challenge, I think, to make such a statement with simple cuts. The white parts, the trees, the figures, the checkered earth and swirling sky–all are made by cutting away pieces of the linoleum. I sympathize with Heller, who I imagine standing at her work table, deciding where to cut and how to build the image, step by step. Maybe the image emerged gradually through trial, error, and intuition. The black ink makes the image pop, and the way she's created these interlocking shapes gives it a real sense of rhythm. The sharp contrast creates drama. She’s in conversation with other printmakers, those who came before her, and those to come. I imagine her as a kind of ancestor to folks like Swoon, or maybe even Art Spiegelman. Artists are always talking to each other, across time.