The German Woodcut: Christiane Baumgartner

Straddling the line between digital and tactile, German
printmaker Christiane Baumgartner first uses her camera to take photos or videos and then transforms the stills by hand-carving them into wood. Rather than choosing between modern technology and traditional art forms, Baumgartner seamlessly
blends the two, down to the horizontal lines that mimic her often found grainy source images. With woodcuts depicting roadways and military cargo planes, her work focuses on themes of motion and speed—though her process is  anything but quick: Transall, the Museum of Fine Art’s most recent (and massive) acquisition, took Baumgartner 10 months to complete and measures 14 feet long. Go see what other four pieces made the cut through May 28. / Brenna Donovan

Photo: Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston