A work of exceptional formal originality — and one that raises a question about medium. The marks throughout have the character of a printing process rather than direct drawing or painting: the color applied in parallel bands has a slight mechanical quality, the texture of each band uniform in a way that suggests the pressure of a roller or press rather than the stroke of a brush. This may be a monotype, a monoprint, or an experimental print process Sidney developed independently.
The composition is organized around three or four large flowing forms — bands of color in red-pink, blue-gray, yellow-green, and black — that sweep across the picture surface from various directions. The bands are not uniform in width but taper and expand, suggesting movement and direction. Between and through the colored bands, fan-like or feather-like forms in red and black spread their marks in radiating patterns that have the quality of both sea creatures and printed texture.
At left, a separate curved form in black — completely different in character from the rest of the composition — reads as drawn rather than printed, a secondary layer added over the printed base. This hand-drawn element connects the work to the drawing practice and distinguishes it from purely mechanical reproduction.
Whether this is a unique object (monotype) or one of multiple impressions, its visual character is unlike anything else in the collection. The surface has a richness and depth that watercolor and pastel don't achieve — layers building on layers, color below color.