Plantstudie 1874 - 1945

This is Carel Adolph Lion Cachet’s Plantstudie, made with pen and watercolour on paper. Look at the way that Cachet has built up the image through line, with layers of contour creating shape and form. It’s almost like a wireframe, or the process of building a sculpture, one line at a time. I love how the material aspects of the work – the stark, thin lines and washy watercolor stains – shape our understanding. There is an openness to the piece, a sense that it is not quite finished. I'm drawn to the big flower on the left, where the delicate ink lines define its form, but leave so much to the imagination. This reminds me of work by Alfred Kubin, who was similarly interested in line and form, and using the bare minimum of materials to convey a sense of space. It invites us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the table, which is always a good thing in art.