Love in an Age of Pestilence: Risk versus Reward

 

The final Rugby Open 2020 print. This is the second version of this one. In fact I went back to my original idea. The image had became more and more close-up. But it was just too… chaste, as my wife said. Also it seemed to have gotten a bit manga-ish to me.

Anyway. My original idea was Rodin so returned to that. I’ve taken some liberties with the design of Rodin’s sculpture. I didn’t want the great stone block his lovers are perched on. But by taking that away, I needed to make the pair more stable, mainly by altering how the man is sitting. Also it’s now a bit more comfortable for his (ahem) erection. And I’ve put his hand between her legs because, well he would, wouldn’t he?

This final one is all lino cut. I always bear in mind when I’m cutting lino that some of the gouge marks will show in the white areas. So I always try to cut in a direction that makes sense, so I can decide whether to keep them in the final print or not. When I began clearing the background, I started singing the Bruce Springsteen song, “Fire,” or rather the Pointer Sisters version. So I’m trying for a slightly flameish vignette here that nods to the wood grain in the other two.

With all our distancing and social policing, it’s easy to forget that in the end we will need to get close. Even to people we haven’t yet met. One day we will discard the masks and be human once more. Human in our best, most animal ways.