Guillermo Silva Santamaria

In this print, colorful creatures wield swords and shields, engaging in a battle whose larger purpose remains unclear. Throughout the series, artist Guillermo Silva Santamaria explores the absurdity of warfare through a combination of fantastical design and innovative print processes. A painter and printmaker, Silva was widely known for his intaglio techniques, which produced deeply embossed and three-dimensional surfaces such as the one you see here. The intense pressure exerted on the paper by the printmaking press echoes the violence of hand-to-hand combat, a mode of warfare strongly associated with medieval warriors.

–SM