Cate’s Pick: Freely Flowing Color on the Move
This month, Cate Bell, co-founder of Found Image Press shares an image from the archive that really moves her. “Modern Dancer” cartwheels into the room and instantly uplifts the mood. The pure Art Deco electricity exudes flowing movement, bright color, and a dancer who is made of confidence and momentum.
What first drew you to this image?
I love this image because it is full of exuberant, flowing movement and is from the Art Deco era, which is my favorite period for design and art. The bright colors speak to me, too. The dancer’s motion feels big, joyful, and continuous as if she is mid-performance, and you’re catching her at exactly the most thrilling moment.
What does this image remind you of personally?
I was a modern dancer for many years, and this image reminds me of the myriad happy hours I spent training and rehearsing in the dance studio and performing on stage—plus all the dance performances I have been to in my life. It’s not just nostalgia; it’s muscle memory.
As a Certified Movement Analyst, I can’t help but notice how this dancer fully embodies moving forward with grace and free flow like a perfectly balanced wheel. The movement feels purposeful and effortless, like forward motion without strain.
What do you think this image says about its time period?
This image personifies the openness and experimentation in art and culture in the late 1920s. New ideas were flourishing, and the boundaries in all art forms and cultural norms were being stretched, expanded, and redefined. You can feel that baked into the style of bold color, movement, and self-expression.
Why do you think this image still resonates today?
This image still resonates today because who doesn’t love seeing a beautiful, happy, flowing dancer in a great costume? I once heard it said, and I believe it to be true: it’s impossible to feel depressed while you are dancing. This image offers welcome relief to the stresses of modern life. It inspires us to move, be happy, and keep flowing.
If you could give this image a caption or title, what would it be?
I would call it “Freely Flowing Color on the Move.” And that really is the whole story—color with momentum, joy with direction, energy that keeps going.
This is one of those images that doesn’t just sit there looking pretty. It elevates any room it hangs in. It’s a reminder to move forward with grace, to let the day be lighter than it wants to be, and to keep flowing even when life gets noisy.
If your walls could give pep talks, this one would be the friend who says, “Stand up. Shake it out. You’ve got this.”
You can find more images like “Modern Dancer” in our archive. Or for more of Cate’s takes on our collection, follow her on Substack, where she shares the history and connections behind the images that mean the most to her.
