Blazing Pyre in Clearing (for Dickie Lowe)

Kevin Fletcher

This haunting image of a man-made fire emitting its glow through the darkness of a nocturnal wood is printed in cold black ink, providing contrast to the subject. Kevin Fletcher depicts a carefully built woodpile, and the flames that rise from it, with studied elegance, manipulating the ink on the matrix with his signature brief, staccato mat-chip strokes that nonetheless convey the scene with detailed accuracy, honing in on the moody atmosphere, coaxing from the darkness the billowing flame with as much intention as a portrait of a dancer.