Highlights from [Baren] Exchange #68 (Part 2 of 4)

This the second of four posts highlighting prints from  Baren Forum's #68 Exchange. The theme was "Nudes", and the paper size was 8" x 8". The first post can be found here. 

Second: wet feet, their backs turned  
Featuring Poolside by Lisa Toth (above) and Nude by the Water by Julio Rodriguez (below.)

Again, two prints with many similarities: a single woman, seemingly alone, her back to the viewer looking out into gently rippling waters. Inevitably many prints of nudes include water seeing as bathing and sometimes swimming are activities done naked. When I look at these prints, I cannot help but imagine how the cool, moving water feels against my own feet and legs.

The difference between these two, as with the two prints I featured yesterday, is about the relationship between the figure and her setting. The first woman sits on the edge of a pool, arms crossed, a towel or blanket behind her. She seems to have already swam and is now quietly resting. She is more still, more dry, and more in her own head. The second woman is moving. Both prints feature ripples, but in the second the ripples are a consequence of the figure's movement and thus, they encircle her. She isn't in between events, she is part of the action.