Sembah 1922

This woodcut, Sembah, was made by Johannes Frederik Engelbert ten Klooster, and the stark contrast of black ink on paper really grabs you. It's like the image is wrestling itself out of the darkness. Looking at the skirt, how it flares from a series of precise folds into these swooping curves, you can feel the force of the blade. It's a real dance between control and letting go. The black ink isn't just a color, it's a physical presence, a carved-out space. I’m reminded of Emil Nolde’s woodcuts, in the way that both artists coax a kind of raw emotionality from the medium. It's like they're not just depicting a scene but channeling a feeling. And that feeling? It’s up to you to decide, and maybe it changes every time you look. Isn’t that the fun of it?