Kalke med folkevisemotiv (Jomfruen i ormeham) 1914

Joakim Skovgaard made this drawing, Kalke med folkevisemotiv (Jomfruen i ormeham), with pen on paper. It looks like a quick sketch, all nervous lines, you can sense him searching for the form. It's all about the making, the process, right there on the surface. The paper has aged to a warm tan colour, and the dark lines of the pen create the image of a woman standing in a garden, and a snake slithering at her feet. Looking at the marks, I see how the density of the lines creates the sense of shadow and depth, especially in the trees, but also in the delicate rendering of the woman's robes, and the snake's twisting body. I am reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker, especially in the drawing's simplicity, and the way it captures a sense of quiet contemplation. The beauty of art lies not in perfection, but in the artist's journey, and the traces they leave behind.