Luna Composition #2- Landscape

Doris Seidler

When Atelier 17 left Paris and reopened in New York in the fall of 1940 the artists began to do more experimentation with textures, adding shading and volume to the engraved line. One technique used to accomplish this was soft-ground etching. By pressing various materials into the soft-ground they were able to add a variety of textures and shapes to their compositions.

Doris Seidler's "Luna Composition #2 - Landscape" is a textbook example of that technique. Seidler has created a surreal Lunar "landscape" of shapes using various fabrics, delineated with engraved lines and a roulette tool. Shapes and lines weave in and out, leading the viewer through a maze-like spacial adventure.