The folk art of Pennsylvania, where Polly Apfelbaum grew up, has long fascinated the artist. Heart shapes were often sewn into quilts, hand-painted onto the sides of traditional bank barns, and incorporated on Fraktur—illuminated calligraphic drawings used to document births, baptisms, and new homes, among other occasions. These heart motifs decorated Apfelbaum's childhood home and are the inspiration for her most recent monoprints, "There are Many Hearts," and a new portfolio of nine woodblock prints, "Heart and Soul."

Produced in relief in a variety of sizes, from 14 to 79 inches squared, the works present a repeating, yet playful pattern that recall modernist design and enabled Apfelbaum to explore wonderful, new chromatic combinations. Rather than focusing on primary and secondary hues as the artist has done in the past, she mixed colors into colors, yielding pastels and other unique shades that she then combined on paper in various ways. Some, whether by one uniting one chromatic family or pairing complimentary colors, are easy to love at first sight. Others challenge the eye, revealing conflict and tension—but perhaps leading to a greater love in time. 

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Image: Polly Apfelbaum, There Are Many Hearts (Baby Heart) 4, 2020 (Detail)