Indecision

Edmond Casarella

Though he is best known for his cardboard relief prints Edmond Casarella also worked in direct relief methods, like this large Abstract Expressionist woodcut he titled "Indecision", a title he used for a few works.

This image looks gestural and immediate, like the artist was using a large Sumi brush and ink to make these calligraphic shapes. In reality he was cutting away the white areas and lines and had to be both spontaneous and extremely controlled as he used his knives and gouges to cut away what he did not want.

After his discharge from the U.S. Army he studied at the Brooklyn Museum School from 1949 to 1951, studying printmaking with Gabor Peterdi. Casarella taught courses at the Brooklyn Museum from 1955 to 1960 and at Cooper Union and Finch College from 1969 to 1975. During the 1960s he also taught courses at the Arts Students' League and Hunter College in Manhattan and had temporary teaching positions at the Pratt Institute, Yale University, Rutgers University, and Columbia University.