By: Art Werger

Medium: Etching w/ Aquatint
Year: 1997
Edition: 50
Image Size: 18 × 24 inches

In Waterwings, Art Werger captures the ever-shifting surface of a swimming pool as a young child is seen seen from above, the child’s blond hair glows in the sun, with red swim trunks and white floatation bands punctuating the cool expanse of rippling blue. Light dances across the water, fragmenting into intricate wave patterns and refracted reflections—hallmarks of Werger’s technical mastery in depicting both the human figure and its surrounding environment.

Part of Werger’s acclaimed aquatic series, Waterwings shares an affinity with the iconic pool imagery of David Hockney, where water becomes both subject and lens for altered perception. Like Hockney, Werger embraces the visual poetry of light and movement, yet his intaglio technique yields an extraordinary precision and textural richness unique to the medium. The result is a moment suspended in time, evoking both the joy and quietude of childhood summers.