Figure II, 1967

Kathryn Metz

A swirling, smoky-hued abstraction in a large format reads as much as the curvature of a torso as it does a figure eight or a storm's vortex in Kathryn Metz' early-career color intaglio, "Figure II". By 1967 the Abstract artist had been studying at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 in Paris for a year, honing the skills she learned at Bowling Green University and UCLA.

This composition is one from a series of large-format images featuring this shape as Metz explores tension and contrast. Unlike many in the series, this image glows with colors that are charged by their opposition but, rendered in dark tonality, read with as much mystery as embers and icebergs. A stunning composition by a young pioneer.