Untitled
1973
graphite
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
1973
graphite
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
You see a tiny toy soldier standing on a blank sheet of paper, pencil lines stretching out from his feet like a map. Porter made this in 1973, when artists were playing with scale and reality. The soldier looks real, but he’s just a cheap figurine—yet the lines make him feel huge, like he’s walking across a desert. The mix of photoetching (a printmaking trick) and hand-drawn pencil makes the image feel both mechanical and personal. If you like how small things can feel big, look up *etching*.
