Two Longshoremen, 3/14/86

Linda Lee Boyd

Printmaker Linda Lee Boyd presents the viewer with an intimate, captured moment that is not photographic. Using a variety of tools on the surface of the block she implies motion and direction, interrupted by solid blacks. She scrapes and pokes at the block to create the textures of textiles, the overall effect being similar to an aquatint, but in wood.

Boyd's subjects are straight-forward and not at all interacting with the viewer. Two longshoremen in jackets engage each other in a conversation on the docks. The man on the left stands with his back to the viewer as he makes a point to another worker who stares intently as he listens, his left hand forming a loose fist. The artist even specifies the date of this interaction: March 14, 1986.