Plate 12 c. 1785

Curator: Gazing at it, I feel a sense of being overwhelmed by nature. Editor: Here we have "Plate 12" by Alexander Cozens, currently residing in the Tate Collections. Cozens, born in 1717, was quite interested in landscape. Curator: Landscape reduced to its pure essence, almost abstract. The dark blotches could be mountains, or forests, or a storm brewing on the horizon. Editor: Exactly. Cozens was playing with the idea of the "blot" as a trigger for the imagination, a way to inspire landscape compositions. It was a method, almost a game, to circumvent academic rules. Curator: A very liberating game, I imagine. It's a reminder that beauty can be found even in the most unexpected places, in the simplest of forms. Editor: And that artistic innovation often comes from questioning established norms. Curator: Indeed. It's like Cozens is inviting us to dream along with him, to find our own landscapes within this ink blot. Editor: An invitation to see, imagine, and break free from artistic conventions.