Interestingly enough, this is not the first time I have been captivated enough by a woodcut of the back of a woman's head to write about it on my blog. The first time was five years ago when I wrote about Hibiscus by Viza Arlington. The second was last year when I wrote about Tracy by Alex Katz.
The anonymity of the figure is an opportunity for projection. More of a chance for viewers to relate. The loose strands of hair around her neck and the casual way her shirt's collar slopes lower on one side makes the encounter all the more personal and intimate. It is as if we are together with her, and yet lonesome in our gazing at her.
Andrew Stone wrote a few posts about this print including many photographs of the work in progress on his blog which can be found here.
There's a lot more, that you can't know just by looking, about this print and the model....It is an imagined portrait of my spouse when she still had waist length hair and we were both so much younger. I like the comparisons you make as I love Viza's hibiscus print and have always been drawn to the figurative works of Alex Katz. I'm looking forward to getting mine in the mail, and seeing them all first hand. Thanks for taking the time to include my work in your blog.
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