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Drawn by the artist and printed at the same time as Jim Dine’s “Thirty Bones of My Body” portfolio. Here, a weed puller points downward, its rounded handle shaded in dark grey. Wispy lines emanate from the tool, like fine hair. Rather than depict the weed puller in action, Dine positions its metal tip at rest on a grey background.
The hand tool is undoubtedly Jim Dine’s most iconic motif. Meticulously catalogued in rows like scientific specimens or sketched individually, hammers, awls, brushes, saws and screwdrivers assume a visceral symbolism. Curvilinear handles evoke the contours of limbs or bones, and even metal points and blades seem organic under Dine’s thoughtful hand. In this series of dry point prints, each tool is positioned vertically. Standing in for the artist’s body, the phallic shapes are gently shaded, appearing pressed into the soft grey background. Wisps of hair creep up and around each tool, as if the instruments themselves were sprouting from the body. Dine’s deft draftsmanship tempers the grotesque possibilities of this inanimate hirsutism, while the delicate, soft quality of dry point lines enhances the intimate nature of these portraits.
